


Those Who Favor Fire

by wordslinging



Category: Star Wars Legends: The Old Republic
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Explicit Sexual Content, F/M, Light Dom/sub, Light Side Sith Warrior, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-10
Updated: 2017-09-26
Packaged: 2018-07-14 07:08:15
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 33,256
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7158917
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wordslinging/pseuds/wordslinging
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A Light-leaning Sith warrior, a dedicated Imperial captain, and what happens when desire too strong to deny grows into love tested by obstacles and betrayal.</p><p>[Will basically follow the Sith Warrior class story/the Quinn romance arc, with a few adjustments, and possibly go on to include some of the expansion material or an AU version thereof.]</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This will more or less follow the timeline of the Sith Warrior class story, but with some adjustments, mostly to how the timing of the Quinn romance fits in to the rest of the story. Basically, I went through the romance after the 4.0 update, so that a lot of it happens after the Quinncident, went "hmm, nah, this isn't nearly painful enough", and reshuffled things to my liking.
> 
> Will contain canon-typical levels of violence and other sorts of unpleasantness, and will hopefully update fairly regularly.

Ruqi flirts with him shamelessly when they meet, of course she does, because what else is she going to do for fun on Balmorra? She's stuck carrying out an assassination mission on a planet full of canyons and giant bugs and determined resistance fighters, and she's just made the delightful discovery that while Malavai Quinn is handsome standing in his perfect uniform and confidently dispensing military knowledge, he's _lovely_ when he's stammering a polite deflection with a blush spreading across his pale cheeks. Like she isn't going to enjoy that for all it's worth.

Then he joins her crew, after going to one knee and _pledging_ himself to her, like some kind of vassal in an old romance. She fights with him at her side, gets to know him not just as one of Baras's many agents, but as Quinn, her loyal captain, uptight and clever and charming without meaning to be (at least, she thinks it's unintentional, otherwise he's also a very skilled actor). And she realizes she has no idea how to proceed.

Ruqi has never had a captain under her direct command, or any soldier for that matter. Two months ago, she was still an acolyte, treated with deference by Imperial officers, but no more so than any other Sith. The only other member of her crew until now has been Vette, and their relationship doesn't exactly seem like a template Ruqi should base her relations with the Imperial military on.

Quinn is not a slave in even the nominal sense that Vette is, and for all his blushing and hesitance he's not a boy, either. He's more than ten years Ruqi's senior, and was serving in the military before she'd set foot in the Academy on Korriban. Yet he's almost painfully deferential, something that makes more sense to her after he discloses his history with Moff Broysc.

She still indulges in flirtation here and there, never pressing the issue when he deflects. She can sense his attraction to her, not just physical desire, but fascination with this Sith who's unlike any other he's known, and admiration of her strength even when she makes choices he doesn't agree with.

Ruqi waits, wanting to see if he'll be the one to acknowledge the tension between them. When he does, the manner in which he goes about it is so very Quinn ( _some time ago it seems you expressed an interest in me_ ) that she feels a stab of frustration and a rush of affection for him in the same moment.

She can't resist the temptation to have a little fun at his expense, feigning hurt by his apparent lack of interest before now, but almost as soon as she goes down that road she realizes she doesn't truly want to play games with him.

Or rather, the games she wants to play are of a very different sort.

"Let's cut through this. I order you to kiss me, Captain."

It's a calculated risk, but a risk all the same. In addition to being aware of his interest in her since Balmorra, she's also been reading him as well as she can. She's taken note of the signs he gives off, the little hints that reveal what he wants--or at least, what she believes he wants. She's playing her hand now; time to find out if she's been reading him right.

"My lord!" he exclaims, sounding shocked, and for one terrible moment she thinks she's miscalculated. Then he steps closer to her and says, very softly, "Yes, my lord."

He puts his hand on her waist as he leans in, tilting his head down to fit his mouth against hers. It's a simple kiss, brief and close-mouthed, but Ruqi still savors the warmth and closeness of it, the softness of his lips and the slight rasp of stubble on his cheek.

Quinn is smiling as he pulls back, but then he shakes his head like a man coming up from water.

"My lord, this is inappropriate. I am...drawn to you, make no mistake, but this cannot continue."

Ruqi brushes her fingers over his cheek, tracing the shape of his mouth, and then pulls her hand back to rest at her side. 

"I'm in no rush, Quinn," she tells him. "If you change your mind, do let me know."

She can only think of a handful of things she's ever wanted as badly as she wants him now, but if she pushes, tries to persuade him--or worse, intimidate him--it won't be nearly as sweet as if he comes to her on his own.

Quinn clasps his hands behind his back, a faint blush lingering on his face. "You've certainly given me much to think about, my lord."


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ruqi and Quinn get a little closer (which is to say, I went "what if I made them hide in a closet for reasons and they made out" and then FEELINGS happened).

Quinn probably wasn't expecting one of their first missions on Taris to involve being grabbed by the collar and shoved into a tiny supply closet on a Republic base, and his gently scandalized "My _lord_ ," as Ruqi crowds in after him and shuts the door suggests he probably hasn't realized that her reason for doing it is the troop of well-armed commandos heading their way.

She lets go of his collar and puts her hand over his mouth, not missing the soft catch of breath against her palm.

"Special Forces," Ruqi whispers, removing her hand and reaching out with the Force to the presences in the hallway, strong and capable and no doubt ready to die for their Republic. "We can take them if we must, but I'd rather avoid unnecessary bloodshed, or attracting too much attention."

"As you say, my lord," Quinn whispers back, too bound by protocol and manners to make any comment on a Sith wanting to avoid bloodshed.

They stand quietly, pressed awkwardly close in the small space. Quinn's arms are pinned between them as they stand chest to chest; the back of his hand grazes her breast as he shifts and crimson floods his cheeks like a sunrise.

"If I may--" he says quietly. "I think we might fit better if I--"

Ruqi bites the inside of her cheek, trying not to enjoy this too obviously. "Yes, Captain, you can put your arms around me." She waits until he's done so, one hand pressed between her shoulder blades and the other resting on the small of her back, to add, "You _could_ even do so just because you want to."

"Please, my lord, there's quite enough about this situation to fluster me already," Quinn protests.

She relents for the moment, just enjoying their closeness. His cheek brushes her hair, and she's perfectly positioned to lean in and kiss his neck. She sometimes forgets how much taller than her he is; she spends so much time being the biggest person in any given room, in terms of presence if not size, that it's nice to be reminded that their respective heights are just right for her to tuck her head under his chin.

Ruqi focuses on the place where his collar parts to reveal a tantalizing sliver of bare throat, and lets herself imagine kissing that spot. She imagines the sounds he would make as she set her teeth to it, imagines purple marks blooming on that fair skin of his.

There are very good reasons why, even at her most dissatisfied with the Empire, Ruqi has never been tempted to try and defect. She may be an unusual breed of Sith, but she'd make a _terrible_ Jedi.

She can feel his heart pounding between them, and sense his emotions--for someone who spends so much time around Force users, he really should work on concealing them better. His desire is strong, but there's a sour note of fear running through it. It's distressing to think he's still so afraid of her, but Ruqi can't blame him when she thinks about who else he's served under--Broysc, who exiled him to Balmorra for doing what was best for the Empire, and Baras, who discards people without a second thought once they outlive their usefulness. If Quinn thinks she's the sort to treat him like that, no wonder he greets her amorous overtures with such trepidation.

She tips her head back to look at his face. "May I ask you something?"

"Of course," he replies. His voice is barely more than a breath, but this close, it doesn't need to be any louder.

"You've been...hesitant to let things between us go any further than they have," Ruqi begins, eyes searching his face. "And I find myself wondering, is it just the impropriety that concerns you, or are you...worried about how I might act if I was both your lover and your superior?"

"I--" he begins haltingly, his face coloring again. "I'm afraid I'm not sure how to answer such a question, my lord."

Ruqi drops her gaze, watching the movement of his throat as he swallows. 

"I just want you to know you have nothing to fear from me, Quinn," she tells him softly. "I would never use my position to hurt you, no matter what happened between us."

He's silent for a few moments, but his arms tighten around her, almost imperceptibly. "May I be completely candid, my lord?"

She looks up at him again. "Please do."

"I spent ten years thinking my career was effectively over because I displeased a superior," Quinn says. "I promised myself that if I ever recovered from that blow, I would not let such a thing happen again." He meets her eyes, his expression solemn. " _You_ have never given me cause to fear you--on the contrary, I've only ever known you to treat your subordinates fairly and with kindness. But fear and caution are not easy habits to let go of."

Ruqi nods, and then closes what little distance there is between their bodies, resting her cheek on his shoulder and sliding her arms around him. He accepts and returns the embrace, one hand lifting to cup the back of her head. 

"I'm sorry you've been so hurt," she murmurs. "If I could go back in time and keep it from happening--"

"But then we might never have met," Quinn replies, breath tickling her ear. "I've never known anyone like you, my lord. Be patient with me."

"Of course," she says, and then lifts her head again. "I _am_ going to kiss you now, if you wouldn't mind terribly."

"Please do," he whispers, and she stretches up to press her lips to his.

Quinn's fingers slide into her hair, his other hand pressing against her back. Ruqi deepens the kiss gradually, teasing his mouth open and slipping her tongue inside. Their first kiss was chaste and sweet; this time, she wants more of him.

The noises Quinn makes when she catches his lower lip between her teeth are even more wonderful than the ones she was imagining a moment ago. He leans into her, kissing back with just enough passion to offer a glimpse of what it would be like if she got him to cast aside all his restraint. Ruqi cups the back of his neck and drags her nails lightly across the skin there, and he shudders, gasping into her mouth.

When the kiss finally breaks, they're still pressed together, noses bumping against each other and mouths barely an inch apart.

"My lord," Quinn whispers, and she gives a questioning hum in response. "I think the patrol may have gone past by now."

Ruqi doesn't bother to conceal her sigh of disappointment, but steps back and reaches out again with the Force. "Yes, they're gone. And I suppose we should be moving on, too, much as I'd like to continue this."

Quinn ducks his head with a shy smile. "Another time. And...perhaps not in the middle of a Republic base."

"Spoilsport," she replies with a teasing smirk.

Quinn straightens his uniform jacket and smoothes down his hair, then looks her over. "I'm afraid I've made rather a mess of your hair."

Ruqi raises a hand to where it's been partially tugged out of place by his fingers, then turns around with a smile. "Fix it for me?"

"Of course." He pulls the tie free and combs his fingers through her hair a few times before he sweeps it up and gathers it back into the long tail she wears it in. Then, so quickly she might have imagined it, he plants a feather-light kiss at the nape of her neck. "There. You're perfect."

"Thank you, Captain," she says, reaching for the door panel. "Shall we?" 

"Right behind you, my lord."


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ruqi and Quinn reach a turning point in their relationship, and Ruqi and Jaesa have a heart-to-heart.

They set course for Dromund Kass after completing the last of their business on Taris. Whatever the next step in Baras's Plan Zero is, Ruqi's part in it hasn't been set in motion yet, so she and her people are at loose ends for a while. There's no telling when they'll be called back to duty, but they're all used to their lives running according to Baras's whims by now.

After everything that happened on Taris, the kiss in the closet and then his soft not-quite-confession outside the vault ( _I believe you know how I feel about you, my lord_ ), Ruqi expects Quinn to seek her out when they're back on the Fury.

She's not expecting it to be so that he can request reassignment.

"Why in _blazes_ would you do that?" she blurts out, folding her arms and staring at him as they stand across from each other. 

"For the sake of you and the crew," Quinn replies, a flush already starting high on his cheekbones. "I had hoped that the...attraction between us would not compromise my ability to serve you. Recent events on Taris have proven that hope false."

"We achieved every one of our goals on Taris, Quinn," Ruqi points out gently. Which is true; her methods may be considered unorthodox for a Sith lord, but when they still result in total victory for the Empire, no one seems to care much that she didn't indulge in the needless slaughter of alien refugees or take the opportunity to kick the Republic while it was down.

"Be that as it may, my lord, I have become distracted by thoughts of you, far beyond what I consider acceptable," Quinn goes on. His voice is firm with determination, but he won't meet her eyes. "That it has not been a liability thus far does not mean it will not become one."

Ruqi has to remind herself of her promise to be patient with him. She _wants_ to be patient, to let him approach this at his own pace; she just didn't think that pace was going to involve trying to back away from it completely.

"You're distracted because you're fighting your feelings," she says, moving closer but not touching him yet. "I can feel the tension in you. It doesn't have to be this way."

He shakes his head. "If we were--if we became more heavily entangled, we might not be able to maintain objectivity if one of us--" He stops his halting speech, pauses a moment, and then says softly, "My lord, I cannot allow my feelings for you, or yours for me, to become a weakness."

"They won't," she replies with equal softness, touching his cheek to turn his face towards hers. "They will make you-- _us_ , stronger, Malavai. Stronger than you can imagine right now."

Their eyes meet, she's aware of some shift in his emotions, small but decisive, and then he says with a swiftness that surprises her, "I'm going to kiss you now, my lord." 

Ruqi says nothing, just watches him with eager eyes and her fingers still resting lightly on his cheek. Quinn steps forward and slides his arm around her waist, pulling her to him, and then his mouth is on hers, hot and insistent.

He takes the initiative this time, and she lets him, slightly startled and thoroughly delighted. One hand pressed against the middle of her back, he brings the other up to cup the back of her head, holding her firmly. Ruqi twines her arms around his neck, parting her lips at the slight pressure of his tongue.

After a long, long moment, Quinn pulls back just enough to speak. "Now more than just duty and honor will be driving my work."

"You'll see," Ruqi murmurs, kissing him again and letting one hand trail down to rest over his pounding heart. "Passion will make you stronger."

He kisses her cheek, then the edge of her jaw, then her neck, bending down to her while she tilts her head to give him better access. "I'm growing more open to the idea, my lord."

She runs a hand through his hair and brings her lips to his ear. "Ruqi," she tells him softly. "At least while we're kissing."

"As you wish, Ruqi." His voice is little more than a low rumble in his chest. 

He kisses his way down the side of her neck and then back up, claiming her mouth again. They're pressed together from chest to thigh already, but he clutches at her waist like he wants to pull her even closer, to leave no space even for breathing. Ruqi can feel his cock pressing against her thigh; she slides a hand between them and palms the hard length, and he bucks against her with a choked-off cry. His reaction sends an answering surge of desire through her, and for a moment the temptation to take things further here and now is almost too strong to resist. It would be so easy to shut the bridge door with the Force, push him back the few steps to the pilot's chair, climb into his lap…

Quinn gives voice to a soft noise of protest when she pulls her hand away.

"Shh." Ruqi puts her arms around his neck again, glancing up at him through heavy-lidded eyes. "There's no need to rush this. I want more than a hasty tryst on the bridge, and I think you do, too."

Still holding her around the waist, Quinn leans his forehead against hers. "I want _you_ ," he says, soft but fervent. "In whatever way you deem me worthy." 

"I know," she murmurs, raising a hand to cup his cheek and trace the shape of his lips with her thumb. "That's why when I make you mine, I'm going to take the time to do it properly."

He leans into her touch, turning his face against her palm. "I am already yours, my lord. All that remains is for you to lay claim to me."

Ruqi smiles, leaning in for another brief kiss before she draws away. "Then I shall do so at my leisure." 

***

A few hours out from Dromund Kaas, she finds a moment to speak to Jaesa privately--the only way they can speak plainly with one another, things being as they are.

"I thought perhaps you might like to see your parents while we're in the capital," she says. "I brought them into my family's service after Alderaan; it took some adjustment, but I think they've settled into life in the Empire nicely."

It wasn't the easiest call she's ever had with her parents--informing them that she was sending two Alderaanians to the Dromund Kaas estate and could the family please set them up with work and lodgings, yes, she had a good reason for this, no, not one she could share with them at the moment--but they, and the Wilsaams, have tolerated the whole thing fairly well.

"I…" Jaesa seems to hesitate for a moment, then nods. "Yes, I'd like that. It's strange, I thought I'd left them behind with the rest of my old life when I became a Jedi. But after everything that's happened…"

"You should have something familiar to turn to when you can," Ruqi tells her. "And I promise, as long as it's in my power to keep them safe, they will be."

"Thank you, master," Jaesa says, then adds softly, "Darth Baras wanted you to kill them, didn't he?" 

Ruqi purses her lips. "I'm sure that's what he had in mind, but...he wanted me to make it clear there was no part of your old life the Empire couldn't touch. As long as I achieved that goal, he didn't care how. That's the best way to deal with Baras, I've found. Find a way to give him what he wants, and he won't ask too many questions about how you do it."

Jaesa nods, and then her eyes widen slightly. "That's...that's why you gave him Master Karr. To protect me."

Ruqi holds her eyes solemnly. "Nomen Karr was broken by our duel. I couldn't save him." She lifts a hand to Jaesa's face, holding her chin between thumb and forefinger. "But I _could_ wager that if I gave Baras his old enemy to gloat over, he would lose interest in you."

"This is awful," Jaesa says softly, a tremor in her voice. "How do you live like this? Make these kind of choices every day?"

"I do what I must," Ruqi replies. "The time may come when I--when _we_ \--no longer have to answer to Baras. Until then, follow my lead and trust me, Jaesa. I'll see us through this."

She means every word, but a nagging voice in the back of her mind whispers _And what then? Will you trade Baras for another master? Another after that? How many will you have to serve before your chains are broken, and how long before one of them asks something of you that you cannot bring yourself to do?_

If Jaesa senses her inner turmoil, she doesn't comment on it, just nods. "I will, master. Thank you."


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A furlough on Dromund Kaas gives Ruqi and Quinn a chance for time alone. They take advantage of it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Going a little off-book here by having them go back to Dromund Kaas instead of right on to Quesh after Taris, and also deciding that the romance bit after Quinn deals with Moff Broysc is not their first time together.

The apartment in Kaas City has never been Ruqi's favorite of her family's holdings, though these days it is the most convenient. The larger estate out in the jungle is more familiar--the house she and her siblings were born in, with a sense of being lived-in that belies its fortress-like exterior. The living quarters attached to the Academy on Korriban, where they moved after her mother secured a position as Overseer there, are less a home than a combination staging area and status symbol, but Ruqi loves the sense of grandeur and history there. 

The apartment is a place for members of the family to stay when they want to be near the Citadel or the spaceport or take part in the games and pageantry of Imperial high society. It's spacious and luxuriously appointed, well-kept by a small cadre of servants who enjoy being able to more or less do what they want so long as the beds are turned down and the kitchen stocked whenever one of the family arrives on the doorstep. Ruqi has always found it somewhat impersonal, more like a hotel than a home, but the first time she went straight from Baras's chambers in the Citadel to a taxi, and straight from the taxi to collapse on one of those recently turned-down beds, the apartment rose quite a bit in her estimation. 

She has the place to herself at the moment, Vette and Jaesa at the estate outside the city, Quinn and Pierce staying in the quarters the military provides for off-duty soldiers. Ruqi gives it a day for them to settle back into the routine of being planetside before she makes the call.

Quinn is as professional as ever when he answers, giving her a slight bow. "My lord. Do you have need of me?"

"At ease, Captain," she tells him with a smile. "This is a personal call. Are you busy this evening?"

He relaxes marginally; to someone who doesn't know him well, Ruqi thinks, there wouldn't be any noticeable difference in his attitude. "I'm free, my lord."

"Good," she says. "My family has season tickets to the Kaas City Opera that don't get used nearly as often as they should. Would you care to be my escort to tonight's performance?"

In truth, she's never cared much for opera, but it seems like the sort of thing Quinn would enjoy, and the genuine, unguarded smile he gives her proves that suspicion right. "I would be honored, my lord."

***

Ruqi doesn't often forgo armor in formal situations--she's a lord of the Sith, not some soft aristocrat, and she prefers her attire to reflect that. But this seems like an occasion to make an exception, and a trip to the market district near the Citadel yields a black sequined gown she's instantly in love with. The long skirt allows enough ease of movement that she could fight in it if she had to, and the neckline plunges almost to her waist in a narrow V, concealing enough for modesty's sake while perfectly displaying the ridges on her chest.

She opts for no jewelry other than her piercings and the tight gold bands around her neck, and adds a slim belt, more ornamental than utilitarian, but suitable to clip her lightsaber onto. The calf-length boots she chooses are similarly fashion-over-function, soft black leather with a low heel.

Her hair takes the most time and trouble, as she's so used to just pulling it into a tight queue, and she's never had the patience to master the more elaborate styles her younger sister Nivony prefers. She almost calls to ask for advice, but if she lets it slip to Von that she's going to the opera with someone, it will only be a matter of time before Zrisha, Tashom, and their parents know as well, and Ruqi is not remotely ready to deal with that. She consults a few tutorial vids she finds on the Holonet instead, and after some trial and error, ends up with her hair pulled to the side and gathered into a loose bun that rests at the base of her neck.

All her effort seems worth it when she opens the door for Quinn (unsurprisingly attired in an immaculate dress uniform) and he simply stares at her for a few moments before saying "You look lovely," in a low, slightly husky tone.

"Thank you." Ruqi smiles, smoothing a hand down the front of her dress. "You clean up rather well, yourself."

He bows and offers her his arm. "Shall we, my lord?"

She grabs a clutch containing a few essentials--her keycard, some credit chips, a holocom she doesn't plan on answering tonight but figures she should have on hand, just in case--and tucks her hand into the crook of his arm. "Let's go."

***

She enjoys the opera more than she expects, but perhaps it's not surprising--there is, after all, a vast difference between being a child who wasn't particularly good at sitting still, dragged on cultural outings with her parents, and being an adult who's better able to appreciate the artistry of the production and the romance and drama of the story, to say nothing of Quinn sitting at her side. Occasionally one of them leans their head close to the other's for some comment, close enough for a kiss, softly murmured words and warm breath on ears and necks. Partway through the second act, Ruqi puts her hand on the back of Quinn's where it lies on the armrest between them, and he turns his hand over, holding hers until the house lights come up again. 

As they leave the opera house and climb into a taxi, a gust of wind and a fresh spattering of rain makes Ruqi shiver, folding her arms over the exposed strip of skin on her torso. Quinn puts an arm around her and she leans into him gratefully.

It's warm and close in the back of the taxi, dark save for fragmented light sliding over them from buildings they pass, and the pilot is a droid who seems free of any tedious small-talk programming. Ruqi turns her face against Quinn's neck, breathing in the scent of his cologne, and rests a hand on his knee.

She half expects him to ease away from her, to say something about this being an inappropriate place for such intimacy. Instead, he tightens his arm around her, turning his head so that his lips just brush her temple. They stay like that for the rest of the trip, and when the speeder touches down on the landing pad outside the apartment, she lifts her head to meet his eyes. 

"Are you coming in?" she breathes. 

"Do you want me to?" he asks just as softly. 

She drops her gaze to his mouth deliberately. "I think I've made it clear enough what I want, Malavai."

He grabs for the door with his free hand, fumbling in his haste. Ruqi laughs as they spill out of the taxi and rush across the balcony to the door.

Inside, she pushes him against the wall and takes his face in her hands, leaning up for a long, slow kiss. Quinn plunges his hands into her hair, ruining in a moment what she spent so much time on earlier, and Ruqi couldn't care less.

She backs up, tugging him with her and only breaking the kiss when they reach the foot of the stairs. Reaching down to grab his hand with one of hers and gathering her long skirt in the other, she leads him up the stairs and down the hall, not stopping until they're in the master suite, with its soft lighting and enormous bed.

Ruqi turns to face him, stepping closer, and he takes hold of her waist, looking at her like no one ever has. She's no stranger to looks of desire or admiration, but not like this. He looks at her like he's starving and she's the only thing in the galaxy that can give him sustenance.

He looks the way she feels when she looks at him.

She undoes the first button of his jacket, pushing his collar open and watching the movement of his throat as he swallows. "I've been waiting to do this since Balmorra," she tells him. "I can't decide whether to take my time or just rip everything off of you."

"Far be it for me to advise a Sith against following her passions, my lord, but this _is_ my best jacket," Quinn points out. 

"Well, in that case…" she undoes another button, and then another, working her way down until she can push the garment off his shoulders. She leaves his crisp undershirt alone for now, instead reaching down to undo his belt and dropping to one knee to unfasten his boots. She hears Quinn's breath catch as she kneels before him, and his hands twitch toward her and then curl into fists at his side, like he wants to touch her head but thoughts of propriety and showing her due respect are holding him back even now. Ruqi files that away to be revisited at a later date, getting to her feet as he steps out of his boots. She removes her own belt, then backs up to sit on the edge of the bed and remove her boots. A light touch on her arm stops her.

"Allow me, my lord," Quinn says, kneeling as she did just a few moments ago, as he knelt to her on Balmorra. Not possessing nearly as much restraint as he does, Ruqi reaches out and pushes a hand through his hair, running her fingertips over his scalp.

He tugs off her boots and puts them aside with his own, then looks up at her, one hand sliding gently up her calf to the back of her knee. "How do you want me?" he asks, in a tone that promises utter obedience no matter what answer she gives, and Ruqi bites her lip against a surge of desire and barely holds back from tackling him onto the floor.

"Come up here," she says instead, tugging at his shoulder. "Lie down."

He does, and she turns and draws her legs up to kneel on the mattress beside him. She slides her hands under his shirt and up, and he lifts up to let her pull it over his head and then settles back on the bed.

He's every bit as beautiful as she thought he would be, alabaster skin and slim, toned muscle, a light dusting of dark hair on his chest and a deep flush creeping down from his face to his neck. Ruqi slides her hands over his skin, warm to the touch and looking even fairer against the crimson of her own.

Quinn lifts a hand to her chest and runs his thumb along the edge of her dress, just grazing her skin. "May I…?"

"Please," she answers, heated, and he slips his hand beneath the fabric, fingertips skimming gently over the swell of her breast. Ruqi reaches back to undo the clasp at the base of her neck and leans forward, the dress hanging loose now and slipping off one shoulder. Quinn brings his other hand up as well, cupping her breasts firmly in either hand and rubbing slow circles over her nipples, already stiff to the touch. 

"Kiss me," he says, halfway between a plea and a demand, and she leans down the rest of the way, pressing her mouth to his. 

Quinn's hands on her skin are bolder than she expected, squeezing her breasts, moving up and back to push the dress the rest of the way off her shoulders, wandering down to press against the flat of her stomach. Ruqi skims her hands over his arms and up to his shoulders, then runs one hand up into his hair and tightens it, yanking his head to one side to expose his neck. Quinn makes a noise low in his throat, but not a sound of protest, no, not with the way his hands tighten on her and he tilts his head just a bit further, offering his throat.

Ruqi takes her time kissing and biting a bruise into his skin, accompanied by the half-strangled, needy sounds he's making. A slight shift to the side is all it takes for her to press one thigh between his and feel how hard he is, and when she pulls back to look at him his eyes are fluttering closed, his breath coming hard and his hands still gripping her. 

"The things I want to do to you," she murmurs, voice full of dark promise. 

"You can do anything you like," he tells her throatily.

"Anything?" Ruqi lifts an eyebrow, and lowers her head to kiss his neck and scrape her teeth along his collarbone before murmuring "That's a dangerous amount of power to give a Sith."

Quinn touches her face, gently tracing the ridges of her cheekbones and the line of her jaw. "I'm not giving it to just any Sith."

Ruqi grins up at him, then curls both hands around his wrists and shoves them down against his sides, pinning him to the mattress. Quinn tenses reflexively, then draws in a breath and relaxes, looking up at her trustingly.

She lowers her head again, kissing her way across his chest. He arches up against her when her mouth closes over his nipple with another hint of teeth.

"My lord--" he gasps out, voice taking on a raw edge, and then, "Ruqi--"

Ruqi lets out an approving hum when he says her name, still holding him by the wrists and exploring his skin with her mouth. She leaves a trail of teasing nips down his chest to his stomach, then pauses, hovering over him, breath ghosting over his skin and making him strain against her hold again.

"Ruqi, _please_ \--"

"Please, what?" Ruqi moves back up, letting go of his wrists. "Tell me what you need, Malavai."

He brings both hands up and plunges them into her hair, bringing his mouth to hers.

"You," he says fiercely between kisses. "I need to be inside you, to feel you around me. We've delayed too long already."

Ruqi's dress is still bunched around her waist and clinging to her legs; she shoves it down along with her underwear and kicks the fabric away, then rolls over and settles back on the bed, holding a hand out to him. "Come here."

Quinn's eyes sweep over her body hungrily as he sheds the rest of his clothing and joins her, one knee slotting between her parted thighs. Ruqi brings one hand up to cup the back of his head and pull him down for a kiss, her other reaching down between his legs. Quinn moans into her mouth as she takes hold of his cock and guides him into place. He braces himself over her, and Ruqi draws in a sharp breath as he slides home.

He holds still for a moment, leaning his forehead against hers. Ruqi kisses him soft and slow as she runs both hands down his back, then grips him by the hips and tugs sharply. He's as quick as ever to obey her command, snapping his hips forward with enough force to make her cry out. He pulls back slightly and then thrusts into her again, and again. She hooks one leg around him and presses her palms flat against his back to urge him on, reveling in the sensation as he fills her.

Quinn shifts his weight onto one arm, bringing his other hand up to touch her cheek, her neck, her breasts. He lowers his face to her collarbone, pressing kisses and half-formed words into her skin, and Ruqi turns her head to kiss the side of his face. She can feel how close to the brink he is, and when he slows his movements, trying to draw it out, she tightens her grip on him and brings her mouth to his ear.

"Don't hold back," she whispers, even as she works a hand between them, fingers working fast to hasten her own climax. "Let me feel you, Malavai."

He calls her name as he comes, slamming into her one last time. His ecstasy and release crash over her like a wave, triggering her own, and she tips her head back with a drawn-out, satisfied moan as she shudders against him.

He collapses against her, panting into her neck and trembling with aftershocks, and Ruqi wraps her arms around his neck and runs her fingers through his hair. 

"Mine," she murmurs in his ear.

Quinn kisses the side of her neck, then pulls out and rolls onto his side. He brings a hand up to brush her hair away from her face and cup her cheek, his eyes glowing with warmth as he looks at her. 

"Yes," he replies simply.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A morning after, an unexpected visitor, and a serious conversation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey did anyone order a ton of OC family backstory with a side of domestic fluff? Because that's what you're getting this chapter.

The first time Quinn wakes in a luxuriously soft bed with her sprawled next to him, he's certain he's dreaming. It's not as if he hasn't dreamed this before, even if the surroundings are new. And even if his dreams has never been so vivid as to include the tickle of loose strands of her hair against his cheek, the lingering smell of sex heavy in the air, and the tingling sensation of his arm having gone numb from her lying on it.

That last mundane detail is what drives home that this is no dream, and he sits bolt upright, dislodging her. Ruqi rolls to the side with a sound of irritation and lifts her head, just barely squinting her eyes open.

"Do you need to go?" she asks in a sleepy mumble. 

"No, my lord," he answers at once, the respectful tone and proper address falling from his mouth just as automatically as they would were he standing at attention in full uniform, not naked in her bed.

"Then stay," she says, and when he settles back into the pillows she rolls toward him again, nestles beneath his chin, and reaches down to grope blindly for the covers and pull them back up.

Quinn wraps his arms around her and buries his face in the fall of her hair, breathing in. She goes loose and heavy against him in moments, her own breath deep and even, and after a time, Quinn relaxes back into sleep along with her.

The next time he wakes, the chrono on the bedside table says it's morning, and much later than he usually sleeps, even when off duty. Ruqi's gone, but Quinn can hear voices drifting up from downstairs. 

His uniform, left in a heap at the foot of the bed last night, is now folded neatly on a nearby chair, cleaned and pressed. He's not sure he likes the idea of someone coming in to collect his things and then bring them back while he slept, but he appreciates the convenience. Stepping into the fresher half-dressed, he draws in a breath at the sight of himself in the large mirror above the sink; the love bite on his neck is the most obvious mark Ruqi left him with the night before, but not the only one.

Buttoning his jacket as he descends the stairs, Quinn can make out the voices more clearly now; Ruqi's and what sounds like a younger woman, her accent similar. Rounding a corner, he can see that the hallway ahead ends in a wide, open doorway with a spacious kitchen beyond. Ruqi is standing at an island counter with her back to him, seemingly preparing something, while the other Sith woman--girl, really, Quinn would be surprised if she's older than fourteen or fifteen--sits directly on the counter with her legs dangling over the side. She has a face quite similar to Ruqi's, with bright gold eyes and her black hair short, the sides of her head shaved.

"You don't know what she's been like since Zohail left," the girl says in a sullen tone.

Ruqi doesn't look up, just raises one hand to waggle a sharp paring knife. "I beg your pardon, but I rather think I do, considering I was the one helping Father calm her down after we got the news."

"All right, but you haven't been living with her," the younger Sith protests. She reaches down and grabs something from the counter in front of Ruqi--a piece of fruit, it looks like, ignoring the offended noise Ruqi makes and popping it in her mouth as she continues. "You're off gallivanting around the galaxy, Father's just spending more and more time at his dig sites or in his office, Von's at the Academy, and now Tashom is, too--it wasn't so bad when he was still at home, but now there's just me for Mother to focus all her...Mother-ness on."

"Zrisha…" Ruqi sets down the knife and turns to face the girl, taking her by the shoulders. "I know she can be difficult, but you have to remember it's out of love. She wants the best for us, and she pushes as hard as she does because she believes that's the only way we'll get it."

Zrisha sets her jaw in a stubborn expression Quinn's seen a million times on Ruqi's face. "And that worked out so well for Zo, didn't it?"

Ruqi pauses for a moment, then runs a hand over the girl's hair, ending with a little shake that's so clearly the gesture of a fond older sibling it banishes any lingering doubt Quinn might have had about their relationship. 

"I'll talk to her," she says, and Zrisha nods in satisfaction. 

"Thank you." She looks away, eyes wandering to the side, and before Quinn can even think about either withdrawing or belatedly announcing his presence, she's spotted him. Rather than look offended at his eavesdropping, she brightens visibly and declares, " _There_ you are. I was beginning to wonder if Ruqi told you to hide until I left."

"If you'd bothered to tell me you were stopping by, I might have," Ruqi mutters as she turns, and then gives Quinn a warm smile. "Captain Malavai Quinn; my sister Zrisha."

Quinn advances the rest of the way into the kitchen and bows, hands at his side. "At your service, my lord."

Zrisha makes a noise somewhere between an incredulous snort and a giggle. "Please, I'm not even an acolyte yet, I'm hardly anyone's lord. Just Zrisha, or Lady Zrisha if you insist."

Ruqi leans one hip against the counter next to her sister. She's barefoot, wearing a thin, silky robe that comes to just above her knees, hair loose over her shoulders and still a little mussed from sleep. Quinn can't keep his thoughts from straying to various ways he could be wishing her good morning right now if they were alone--the robe is cinched tight around her waist, but it would be easy enough to slide a hand past the neckline or under the short hem. The awkwardness of the situation strikes him suddenly; the intrusion on their privacy, Ruqi's relaxed state contrasting his having donned his full uniform--as if he'd come downstairs expecting to be dismissed now that he's served his purpose, as if he doesn't know her better than that by now.

Ruqi meets his eyes without speaking for a moment, and then she loops an arm around Zrisha's neck and tugs her close, saying with a bright smile, "My sister, alas, has plans to meet friends in the city and can't stay to have breakfast with us."

"Oh, actually, I thought I might--" Zrisha counters in an equally cheerful tone, but that's as far as she gets before Ruqi leans her head fondly against hers and tightens her grip into a headlock. "Ow, ow, all _right_ , have it your way." She hops down from the counter and casts an amused look between Quinn and her sister. "It's been lovely meeting you, Captain. I'm sure we'll see more of one another soon."

He makes her another bow, concealing a small smile. "I'll look forward to it, Lady Zrisha."

Ruqi waits, still leaning enticingly against the counter and not taking her eyes off of Quinn, until they hear the front door slide closed. Then she grabs him by the lapels and tugs him in, his hands already reaching to curve around her waist and bring her flush against him as they kiss.

"Sorry about that," Ruqi says after a long moment, leaning back with her hands on his chest. "Zrisha is...well, she's fifteen. I don't know if you have any younger siblings…"

Quinn shakes his head. "I'm an only child." He lifts a hand to brush her hair away from her face and caress her cheek with the backs of his fingers. "The timing may have been...less than ideal, but I did enjoy meeting one of your family."

"I was hoping for a bit more time to ease you into that," she says dryly. "But perhaps if I can arrange for you to meet all of them one at a time, they won't scare you off." She tips her face against his hand, giving a little hum as he strokes her cheek. "And this wasn't exactly the morning I had planned for us. I was going to make us breakfast and then see how long I could keep you in bed."

Quinn glances at the half-assembled meal on the counter. "My lord, that wasn't necessary. You should have woken me to help."

She gives him a look of pure affection. "I knew you'd say that, which is why I got up to do it while you were still sound asleep."

Quinn smiles and presses a kiss to her temple. "Well, the morning's not over yet. Shall we see if we can salvage what's left of it?"

They put together a tray and take it back up to the bedroom, where Quinn strips back down to bare feet and his undershirt while Ruqi piles up a mound of pillows to sit against. Quinn hasn't spent this kind of lazy morning with a lover in a very long time, since before Balmorra. He almost doesn't know what to do with himself--which is all right, because Ruqi seems perfectly content to take charge, moving them around until he's against the pillows with her back to his chest and one of his arms draped around her.

They sit quietly for a while before Quinn says, "My lord, I feel I should tell you--I didn't mean to eavesdrop on a sensitive discussion, but I did overhear some of your conversation with your sister earlier."

"You heard us talking about Zohail," Ruqi says quietly.

"Yes," he says. "If you'd rather we not discuss it--"

She runs her hand lightly along his arm where it's wrapped around her. "No, I should probably tell you before we take this--us--any further." She pauses, taking a breath, then says. "Zohail was the first of our brothers, the second born after me. He was also the only one of us born without the ability to use the Force."

"Ah," Quinn says quietly. 

"Indeed," Ruqi says. "And...well, you heard Zrisha and I talking about our mother. She's always had grand ambitions for us, and she can be very...intense about pursuing them. Since Zohail wasn't destined to train as a Sith, she set her sights on his joining the military instead, and her greatest hope was that he could one day join the Imperial Guard."

Quinn nods; that makes sense, with a place in the Guard being the most prestigious rank a Force-blind Imperial could achieve--something he'd naively dreamed of himself, as a young man. 

Ruqi continues. "And if you ever met Zo, I think this would be as obvious to you as it was to us--he wasn't made for military life. He's a good man, but he's not a soldier. He knew it, I knew it, our father knew it--but either our mother couldn't see it, or she wouldn't admit it to herself. And she's the one I inherited my stubbornness from, so that should tell you something."

Quinn can surmise where she's going with this, and if he's right, it explains both why she thinks he ought to know, and why she's uncharacteristically reluctant to tell him. "So Zohail defected?"

"Yes," Ruqi says softly. "He was at the military Academy here while I was at the Academy on Korriban, and when he got the chance to run during a training mission, he took it. We haven't seen or heard from him since. I want to believe he's still alive, that I would have sensed it if he died, but...I don't know."

Quinn presses his lips together, saying nothing. Decades of loyalty and commitment to the Empire tell him to condemn such an act, whatever the reason behind it, but saying as much to Ruqi now can serve no purpose but to hurt or anger her.

Ruqi half-turns against his chest, looking at him with a thin, brittle smile. "So now you know, Captain. My brother's a deserter."

She looks more vulnerable now than he's ever seen her, more than when they made love last night or when she slept curled up in his arms. Quinn leans in to kiss her gently, one hand coming up to stroke her hair. The gesture seems to reassure her; she sighs softly into the kiss, and when she pulls back she looks calm, resolute, her eyes searching his face.

"I'm sorry for you and your family," he tells her. "This has clearly been hard on you. I can't condone your brother's actions, but...this doesn't change my feelings for you, not in the slightest."

Ruqi closes her eyes and leans her forehead against his. "Thank you. I wasn't sure how you would take it, but I didn't want to keep this secret from you."

Quinn tilts his head up to kiss her brow. "Your trust honors me, my lord."

She lifts her head to kiss him, a kiss that starts out gentle and quickly kindles into passion. He's dimly aware of her waving one hand, of the clinking of dishes and flatware as the breakfast tray slides down to the other end of the enormous bed, and then she puts that hand on his chest and opens her mouth under his and Quinn's world narrows to her, her taste and her warmth and the weight of her in his arms. Ruqi shifts against him, drawing her knees up, half in his lap, and he puts a hand on her leg and slides it up.

On the bedside table, her holocom starts beeping loudly. 

Ruqi growls in frustration, but leans over to grab it, and then sighs deeply as she checks the incoming frequency. "It's Baras."

"Then you should answer it, my lord," Quinn says, stating the obvious, but in that moment she looks as if she'd like nothing better than to chuck the device across the room and turn her attention back to him. 

"I know," she says reluctantly, and pulls away from him with equal reluctance, sliding off the bed. She takes a moment to smooth her hands over her hair and make sure her robe is fully closed and cinched tight. "I'll be back as soon as I can."

As she heads into another room to take the call, Quinn gets out of bed as well and grabs the tray to take it down to the kitchen. Whatever the particular reason for Baras's call, he has no doubt their lazy morning is over.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The plot thickens! Or, well, an attempt at some sort of plot beyond porn and fluff is made.
> 
> (Note: the last half or so of this chapter was originally a ficlet by itself, but I decided I wanted to fold it into this fic.)

Baras is sending them to follow a lead on one of their remaining Plan Zero targets, being extremely stingy with details. Feeling more like a game piece on a board than she likes, but not having much choice at the moment, Ruqi recalls her crew, and they depart from Dromund Kaas the next day.

Just after takeoff, she makes a quick sweep of the ship, seeing to it that everyone's settled in, and then joins Quinn on the bridge. He nods to her, professional as ever. 

"My lord. All systems are running well, and we should reach our destination in good time."

"I'm pleased to hear it, Captain," Ruqi says, and looks at him quietly for a moment before she adds, softly, "I don't know about you, but this is all very new to me."

"If you mean serving with someone I've been...intimate with, then yes, it's new territory for me as well," Quinn tells her.

"Good," she says decisively. "we can figure it out together." The power imbalance between them falls in her favor, the gap in age and overall experience in his; it's nice to know they're on equal footing in this, at least.

Quinn nods again, giving her a faint smile. "As you say, my lord."

She almost steps in to kiss him, then thinks better of it--for all that they've kissed on the bridge before, it seems prudent to wait for a better moment now that she's reasonably confident better moments will come.

Instead, she asks, purposefully making it a request and not an order, "If you have nothing pressing to attend to tonight, come to my quarters?"

Quinn's smile widens. "It would be my pleasure, duty permitting."

***

He does come to her that night, but he's clearly agitated about something. Looking up from where she's seated cross-legged on the bed, Ruqi takes one look at him and asks, "What's wrong?"

Quinn hesitates a moment, then says, "I had hoped I wouldn't need to trouble you with this, my lord, but I suppose you should know--Moff Broysc contacted the ship earlier, shortly after you left the bridge. He was incensed to find me at the helm."

Ruqi frowns, her hackles raising at the very mention of the man. She holds out a hand and Quinn moves to her side and takes it, sitting on the edge of the bed. "Did you speak with him?"

"Very briefly and unpleasantly," he tells her. "But since then, he's sent several recorded messages. They're...nonsensical, frankly. He's always been scattered and aggressive, but now he seems positively unhinged."

Ruqi's scowl deepens, irritation and worry mingling as she considers the implications of that statement. She doubts Quinn would ever use such language to describe a Moff unless the man's instability was far too obvious to be ignored or denied, and the thought that someone so clearly unhinged is still out there commanding Imperial forces is troubling, to say the least. Why hasn't someone who's in a position to challenge him done so before now?

"The next time he comes calling, I will speak with him," she says.

"I would appreciate that, my lord," Quinn says with relief, but he still looks troubled. "Tens of thousands of soldiers and some of our most critical campaigns are at the mercy of his commands."

"The man is a liability," Ruqi says. Broysc's treatment of Quinn is more than enough reason for her to hate him, but this goes beyond a personal grudge. Someone is going to have to deal with him, sooner or later. 

She moves in for a kiss, smoothing her hands along the line of Quinn's shoulders. "But for now, try to put him out of your mind. Call it an order if you like."

Quinn slips his arm around her, leaning in to deepen the kiss. "As my lord commands," he breaths against her lips.

***

Their arrival in the Quesh system soon puts Moff Broysc out of both their minds, in favor of more immediate problems.

That Baras might be seeking to take down Darth Vengean along with their Republic targets is not something Ruqi could have claimed any certainty about before now, but she finds it entirely unsurprising. This is the way it is with Sith like Baras, the path she has no doubt Baras expects her to follow eventually--serve your masters until you can supplant them.

She allows herself to vent some of her growing frustration with Baras once she and Quinn are alone again, not as wary as she might once have been about letting him hear her honest opinion of their master.

"If removing Vengean from power _is_ his goal, I would rather he just tell me. It's not as if I mind being the instrument of such a plan, but I mind being treated like some...lackey who can't be trusted with information." Glancing at Quinn, she adds, "It's the same way he treated you on Balmorra, expecting you to serve his interests without being honest with you about what they were."

Quinn presses his lips together, seeming somewhat uncomfortable with the discussion. "My lord, it's not for me to question how Lord Baras conducts his affairs or directs his agents. I would not presume to--"

Ruqi waves an impatient hand. "You know I don't care about that."

"But I do, my lord," he goes on, a noticeable stiffness in his tone and the way he's holding himself. "Questioning a superior is not something I take lightly; moreover, questioning a Sith is not something I _can_ take lightly. That has not changed simply because of our intimacy."

Ruqi looks away, relenting. "You're right. I'm sorry, sometimes I still forget how different we are in that regard."

He gives a light shrug. "Serving Lord Baras without question has never given me cause for complaint, my lord. You brought up Balmorra; indeed, I was not given details of your assignment there, and had to do the best work I could with limited information. But that worked out rather well for both of us, wouldn't you say?"

"I suppose so," she concedes with a little smile.

"And in truth, I've never known Lord Baras to not be several steps ahead of any opponent," Quinn says. "He knows what he's doing. All the more reason I've found it best to follow his orders and not ask questions."

She folds her arms, giving him an arch look. "So I should keep my head down and do the same, is that what you're saying?"

"I would never presume to--"

Ruqi rolls her eyes, albeit fondly. "Yes, yes, you wouldn't presume to tell a Sith what to do."

"Not quite what I was going to say, my lord." Quinn moves closer to her, taking hold of her chin to gently turn her face toward his. "I would never presume to tell _you_ what to do. Not because you're a Sith, but because you are yourself."

Ruqi smiles, reaching up to take his hand in hers. "Good answer." 

*** 

"Why do they insist on making everything so _difficult_?" Ruqi snarls as she disarms one charge and looks around for the next. 

"Well, we _are_ at war, my lord," Quinn points out, working on another charge a few feet away. 

They've taken an enemy base on Quesh with minimal casualties on both sides--something Ruqi went to no small amount of effort to achieve--only to find that the Republic commander would rather see his base destroyed than in Imperial hands, and has rigged the whole place with the detonite charges she and her strike team are now racing to disarm before the timers on them run out. 

"Well, yes, but this sort of behavior is just obnoxious," Ruqi replies, and then calls out, "How are we doing?" 

"Scans show three more charges placed along this corridor, my lord," a soldier with a datapad, who looks entirely too young and fresh-faced to be blown up, replies. "That's the last of them. But we're running out of time." 

Ruqi nods, glancing down the corridor and then at the soldiers around her. "Pull everyone else back. I'll deal with the last three myself." 

"But, my lord--" The boy protests, having no doubt been told it would be both his duty and an honor to give his life for a Sith lord. 

" _Now_ , Ensign," she snaps, and he nods and goes to relay her order to the others. Ruqi glances over at Quinn. "That includes you, Captain." 

He disconnects a wire, looking calm and composed as he handles enough detonite to blow him, her, and anyone else still in the room into a hundred pieces. "I must respectfully refuse, my lord." 

There's no time to argue. Running down the corridor, they each get another charge disarmed. Ruqi starts toward the last one and then halts, throwing out an arm to catch Quinn around the chest, as the timer beeps insistently and her instincts shriek a warning. 

"We can't get that one in time," she says, and spins around, pushing Quinn back the way they came. "Go, _go_!" 

He runs, and she follows, keeping herself between him and the detonite. Just before it blows, she plants both hands in the middle of Quinn's back and shoves, throwing herself after him and gathering all the protection she can around them. 

*** 

She wakes sprawled on top of Quinn and surrounded by rubble, but definitely not dead, and can't help the exhilarated laughter that bursts out of her. 

Quinn's eyes fly open at the sound; he looks confused for a moment, then concerned, hands coming up to run over every part of her he can reach. 

"My lord! Are you all right? Are you wounded?" 

Ruqi leans into his hand for a moment as he cups her cheek, then rolls off of him. "Just a little banged up. What about you? That cut looks nasty." 

He raises his hand to the cut trickling blood on his brow, as if he's just realized it's there. "Hmm? Oh, that. No cause for alarm. We're--" he pauses, and she sees a bit of the same hysterical joy bubbling up inside him. "We survived." 

"So we did. But come here and let me make sure you're all right." He scoots closer obediently, and Ruqi carefully wipes away the blood on his forehead to examine the cut. "I need you in good shape, _mielis_." 

With all but one of the charges disarmed, damage and casualties from the explosion are minimal. Quinn and Ruqi sit tight while the rest of the strike team digs them out, and submit to the team medic's insistence that they both report to the base's medbay for a full scan. 

They're sitting side-by-side in the medbay, waiting the requisite length of time to make sure neither of them has a concussion, when Quinn asks, "You called me something back there--something in Sith, I presume?" 

Ruqi feels her face grow warm. " _Mielis_. It...well, it means 'darling'." 

"Ah, I see." From her sidelong glance at his profile, Ruqi can't tell if he's more pleased or embarrassed. Maybe an equal mix of both. 

"You don't mind if I call you that sometimes, do you?" she asks. "I won't do it during official briefings or anything like that. But, well…" she reaches across the space between their beds, laying her hand on top of his. "The truth is, I've been calling you that in my head for a while now." 

Quinn turns his hand over under hers, twining their fingers together. "I don't mind," he says, soft but urgent, then clears his throat. "In situations where it's not inappropriate, of course." 

"Of course," Ruqi replies with a smile, squeezing his hand. 

He looks over at her curiously. "How do you say 'my lord' in Sith?" 

" _Nuyak ari_ ," she says. 

" _Nuyak ari_ ," he repeats, carefully copying her pronunciation. 

"I'd be glad to teach you more Sith, if you'd like," Ruqi offers. "Sometime when there aren't a million other things to be done." 

He looks across at her with a smile. "I would like that very much, my lord." 


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dealings with Darth Vengean and Moff Broysc come to a head, and Ruqi and Quinn are really bad at being subtle about their relationship.

The occasional kiss on the bridge aside, Ruqi thinks they've done a pretty good job of containing their amorous impulses while on the ship. It's not as though it's an everyday occurrence for her to walk into the galley early in the morning, find Quinn there alone, and bypass his offer of freshly brewed caf in favor of backing him against the counter and kissing him.

It figures that the one time she chooses to do that, Pierce walks in on them mere moments later.

Quinn moves away from her as soon as he sees the lieutenant. Given all his concerns about propriety, Ruqi supposes she shouldn't have expected any different, but it still stings to have him distance himself from her so quickly.

"Apologies, m'lord," Pierce says, and then adds with barely contained insolence, "Captain. Didn't mean to interrupt."

Ruqi folds her arms, looking at him calmly (Quinn has his eyes lowered, not rising to Pierce's barb). "No harm done, Lieutenant. Ready for Hoth?" 

"Ready when you are," he replies. It works out well, Ruqi reflects, Pierce and Jaesa being the two of her companions most willing to accompany her on their mission here. She's far more used to having Vette or Quinn at her side; it will do them all good to shake things up a bit.

"Perfect," she says to Pierce. "I'll be with you shortly."

He nods to her, staying just long enough to pour a cup of caf and grab a ration bar before he makes his exit again.

"I swear I'm going to put a bell on that man," Ruqi mutters, and at Quinn's questioning look, "Oh, nothing. He walked in on Jaesa and I having a conversation the other day." 

In retrospect, it's her own fault for not making sure she and Jaesa had more privacy before having a discussion that bordered on treason. And she really needs to remember that for a large man who favors heavy armor, Pierce can be disconcertingly stealthy--a holdover from his black ops days, she supposes.

"It doesn't surprise me to learn the Lieutenant has a talent for turning up where he isn't wanted," Quinn says, casting a glare out the door, and then turns back to her. "I'm sorry, my lord--I don't mean to give the impression that I don't want us to be seen together--"

Ruqi holds out her hands, and he takes them, stepping closer. "I understand it might be a delicate issue for you, having the others learn of our relationship." 

Quinn lifts one of her hands to his mouth, kissing her knuckles. "I've no wish to hide or deny my feelings for you, but...I'm not exactly in a rush for everyone to know our private business, either."

"We couldn't avoid it forever, not as close as we all are by necessity," Ruqi points out. "Still, it's been nice having it just be between us."

"Just so, my lord. I don't think I'll mind anyone else finding out as much as Pierce," Quinn says, then adds with a considering look, "Well, no, I'll mind when Vette finds out because she's going to tease me until the Void takes one or the other of us. But I'm not afraid of what she'll think."

Ruqi arches a brow. "And you are afraid of what Pierce is going to think?"

"Perhaps 'afraid' is a poor choice of words," he says quickly. "But I know the conclusions he's likely to draw--is likely drawing as we speak--and I can't abide the idea of him thinking that this is--that I'm--" 

"That you're sleeping with me to advance your career?" Ruqi asks matter-of-factly.

"My lord, please, best we don't even dignify the idea by speaking of it any further," Quinn says primly.

Ruqi shrugs, untroubled. "Even if that's what Pierce thinks, I doubt he's trying to take any moral high ground; I'm fairly certain _he'd_ sleep with me to advance his career if I gave him the chance."

"My lord!" Quinn protests, coloring.

"I didn't say I was _going_ to give him the chance," Ruqi points out, then adds thoughtfully. "Although who knows, we may end up snowed in on Hoth, needing to share body heat to survive…"

"As attempts to bait me go, this is a particularly transparent one, my lord," Quinn says, his words belied by the interesting shade of deep red his face has turned.

"True, but it was too good an opportunity to pass up." She leans in to kiss his cheek apologetically, then murmurs in his ear. "Anyway, I'll have thoughts of you to keep me warm down there."

Quinn brings one hand around to press against her lower back, keeping her close. "In that case, let me give you something more to think on," he replies softly, before turning his head to catch her mouth with his.

Ruqi brings a hand up to touch his cheek, and the kiss lasts for a long, sweet moment before she draws back. "Hoth won't wait forever," she says reluctantly. "We'll have to revisit this when I return."

***

When she returns to the ship after having left Xerender and Wyelett to their fate on Hoth, Quinn is waiting to greet her.

"My lord, I--" he begins as he steps forward, then halts, blinking, as he takes in the hulking Talz just over her shoulder. 

"Captain, this is Broonmark," Ruqi says, suddenly reminded of the time she came home with a snarling, scratching tukata pup clasped firmly in her arms and declared to her parents that she was keeping it. "He will be joining us."

"...I see," Quinn says, and seems to consider and reject several possible statements before simply telling her, "When you have a moment, a bit of a situation has arisen involving Moff Broysc."

Ruqi glances over her shoulder at Broonmark and gestures down the corridor. "Crew quarters are that way, galley's that way, don't start any fights and tell the droid if you need anything."

It's a more brusque introduction to the ship than she was planning on giving, but the Talz seems unruffled. " _We will be ready if you need us_ ," he says in his strange buzzing tongue, nodding to her, and then heads off as Ruqi turns to Quinn.

"Has he called back?"

"Several times, in fact, while you were planetside." Quinn is the picture of agitation, pacing back and forth in front of the holoterminal with his hands clasped tightly behind his back. "He's nearly incoherent. I can only assume some sort of dementia has set it. I have him on hold now, awaiting your return."

Ruqi shifts her stance slightly and folds her arms. "Put him through."

Quinn wasn't exaggerating about Broysc's state of mind, she quickly realizes. The Moff barely seems to realize who his audience is at first, and when he does he rants at her, reciting a list of progressively more nonsensical offenses he believe's Quinn's committed and demanding he be punished for them.

The situation is, frankly, too absurd not to be amused by. "Admiral Malcontent," Ruqi declares, using the Moff's ridiculous name from earlier and still staring flatly at his holo image with her arms folded, "I strip you of your rank and relegate you to the cleaning crew."

"Yes, my lord," Quinn agrees placidly.

She has a vague hope that those words might pacify Broysc, get him to stop harassing Quinn if nothing else. However, he seems distinctly unpacified.

"I order you to deliver him to me for execution immediately!" Broysc yells at her, as if she were one of his hapless underlings. "Now! Are you listening?"

Ruqi's eyes narrow, all amusement gone. It's partly a reaction to the Moff's demanding tone--she is Sith, she is a daughter of and apprentice to Lords, and _this man_ does not give her orders--but under that flash of proud anger is a deeper, stronger current of rage.

"I do not accommodate lunatics," Ruqi snaps at him, and barely hears whatever response he gives over the rush of her own pulse in her ears. Before the transmission even cuts off, she whirls, stalks a few paces away, and drives her fist into the nearest wall hard enough to send cracks splintering across the polished durasteel surface.

"He's not going to touch you," she says into the tense silence that follows, shaking out her hand as her knuckles sting. "I'll kill him myself if he tries."

"Thank you, my lord." Quinn moves to her side, reaching out a bit tentatively and, when she doesn't pull away, taking her hand and rubbing his thumb over her knuckles. "I have no concern for myself, not now. But the entire Empire is in danger as long as Broysc remains in command. I must implore High Command to do something about him."

Ruqi's at the point where she's more than ready to solve the problem with her lightsaber, but if Quinn wants to go through official channels first, she'll follow his lead. "Do. I need to let Baras know the mission on Hoth is complete and see what he has next for us, but keep me apprised of the situation."

He nods. "I will, my lord."

***

Quinn sends several communications during their return trip to Dromund Kaas, but by the time they reach the capitol, it's apparent that his efforts are not going well.

"I've gone as high up the chain as I can, but no one will confront Broysc," he tells Ruqi as he stands on the bridge beside her. "He's too powerful and entrenched. He will serve until he's killed or willingly steps down."

"We could do something about that, you know," Ruqi says darkly, and Quinn ducks his head.

"I had hoped it wouldn't come to that, my lord." He lifts his gaze to the front viewport, at Dromund Kaas waiting ahead of them. "I've always put my faith in the strength of the Imperial military, in its protocols and regulations. Even when they did not serve _me_ , I believed they would always serve the best interests of the Empire. It is most disheartening to realize I may have been wrong." 

Ruqi puts a comforting hand on his shoulder, squeezing gently. "So what now?"

"I believe someone must confront Broysc directly," Quinn says, and then turns to face her, jaw clenched in determination. "But I will not ask you to do it. With your leave, my lord, I will deal with him myself, once and for all."

She nods. "Go. You know you have my support if you need it."

He takes her hand from where it rests on his shoulder and lifts it to his mouth, kissing her fingers. "Thank you. I'll be back as soon as I can."

With Quinn departing in a shuttle and Jaesa at her side, Ruqi reports to Baras--who, it seems, is finally ready to play his hand against Vengean. 

"How would you like to face off against one of the twelve most powerful Sith in the galaxy?" he asks, and Ruqi feels an eager smirk cross her face. 

"I thought you'd never ask, master."

The battle with Vengean is satisfying, and while it's Baras who reaps the most obvious reward, Ruqi returns to the Fury apprentice to a member of the Dark Council. Not a bad day's work, she thinks as her holo chimes and she picks up the call.

"Quinn. Where are you? I have news."

"So do I, my lord," he tells her, voice tight. "I'm on my way back now. I...seem to have abducted Moff Broysc."


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which I don't question what Quinn gets turned on by, I just work here, and the plot thickens.

Quinn had expected that finally dealing with Broysc would be an adrenaline-charged affair, and he's not wrong. Taking decisive action against a Moff is easily one of the boldest things he's ever done, and any fear he might have about it is overwhelmed by his anger and his conviction that this is what must be done.

Among all the other reasons his heart is beating fast, though, is the memory of Ruqi's reaction when he'd returned to the ship with the Moff in tow. She'd been nothing but supportive of his actions, blazing with her own anger at Broysc but content to stand back and let him take the lead. 

"I've resisted all along, but this is personal," he'd finally declared. "Permission to execute the Moff, my lord."

She'd been visibly holding herself in check by that point, her hand twitching toward her lightsaber. "If you don't, Captain, I will."

Up until now, even with the strength of his feelings for her, Quinn has harbored lingering doubts as to whether they should truly be continuing this relationship, fear that they might someday find their ability to work together compromised. In that moment there'd been no doubt, no fear. They'd been as strongly united as ever, acting as one for the good of the Empire, and Quinn finds that even the distasteful act of disposing of Broysc's body isn't enough to cool the ardor that awakes in him.

When he returns to the ship, she's waiting in the lounge, sitting with her elbow balanced on her knee and her chin resting in her hand. None of the others are in sight, but Quinn wouldn't let it stop him if they were. Ruqi stands as he moves toward her, waiting for him to speak.

He doesn't. Instead, in one fluid motion, he takes her by the waist, pulls her flush against him, and kisses her deeply. She melts against him, hands coming up to frame his face as her lips part, and Quinn plunges his tongue into her mouth and kisses her as thoroughly as he's ever done anything.

When he finally pulls back, Ruqi slides one hand along his jaw, thumb shifting to press against his lower lip. Her sunset-colored eyed focus there for a moment and then lift to meet his with that same calm, waiting expression.

"I don't care who knows about us, or what conclusions they draw," Quinn tells her. "I don't care what anyone else thinks this is. The only thing that matters to me is that you know my feelings for you are real."

She smiles at him, bringing one hand down to rest on his chest. "I've never been in doubt of that, _mielis_ ," she replies. "And I've always known the way we feel about each other is all that truly matters. I'm glad you know it, as well."

Quinn kisses her again and rests his forehead against hers, whispering fervently, "I was a fool to ever think otherwise."

"Perhaps, but you're my fool," she says with teasing fondness, and then, solemnly, "You got there in your own time. I couldn't have asked anything different of you."

He claims her mouth again, savoring her taste, her scent, every point of contact between their bodies. His hands, still on her waist, slide around and over her back, one lifting to the nape of her neck, the other coming to rest on the small of her back. 

"I want you," he murmurs to her. "Right now. Can we--"

He feels her grin against his mouth as her hand curls in the front of his jacket, and then she's leading him back toward the open door that leads to her quarters.

They're in a flurry of motion as soon as the door slides closed behind them, Quinn stripping out of his jacket and boots while Ruqi sheds her armor, leaving her in the light robes she wears underneath, so much of her smooth red skin bared to his eyes and hands.

Settling his hands on her hips, Quinn spins them so that Ruqi's back is to the wall, then goes to his knees before her. He glances up, wordlessly seeking permission, and she combs a hand through his hair with a small, satisfied smile. 

"By all means, Malavai, continue."

He turns his head to kiss her wrist and leans in to nuzzle against her stomach, gently tugging at the fabric still between them until he can duck his head down and press his mouth to her cunt. She breathes in sharply and spreads her legs to accommodate him, wet with desire, fingernails trailing lightly over his scalp as her hand moves in his hair. Quinn brings his hands around to hold the backs of her thighs as he buries his face against her, surrounded by her warmth and scent. He works his tongue into her, probing deeply, then pulls back slightly to tease at her clit, running slow circles around the sensitive spot before pressing the flat of his tongue to it as she bucks against him. 

He keeps up his ministrations until her hand tightens in his hair and her body quakes with release. She lets out his name in a long, slow sigh, her hand going back to gentle stroking as he presses a final kiss to her sensitive flesh before drawing back to look up at her.

Ruqi puts her hands on his shoulders, but rather than raise him to his feet she pushes him back onto his heels and sinks into his lap, Quinn's arms going around her automatically as she does so. She cups his face in her hands and kisses him slowly and thoroughly, licking her own taste out of his mouth. 

She moves in his lap, making his breath catch as a wave of pure, insistent need rushes over him. Quinn gathers her up in his arms and stands; his knees and back protest the move slightly, but he only has to take a few steps for them to sink down on the bed. 

Their remaining clothing is discarded quickly, and Ruqi pushes him to lie on his back as she straddles him. Quinn holds her by the hips, steadying her as she sinks down onto his cock. She stills for a moment when he's fully inside her, her head tipped back, eyes fluttering closed. When she starts to move, Quinn's eyes threaten to roll back in his head and he grips her harder than he means to, fingers digging into her skin.

Ruqi leans forward to brace herself with one arm, riding him at a swift, steady pace as he thrusts up into her mindlessly. His hands roam over her body, cupping her breasts, moving over her arms and back, sliding into her hair and tugging her head down for a kiss. It's not long before she's shuddering and gasping again, tightening around him as she comes, and Quinn buries his face in her hair with a soft cry as he follows. 

They lie close afterward, Ruqi's head pillowed on his chest. Quinn strokes her hair and marvels, not for the first time, at how perfectly she fits in his arms, as if he'd been made to hold her. 

Less marvelous, but still a relief and a source of satisfaction, is the utter lack of internal conflict he feels over not just their relationship, but everything. Broysc is gone, and the Empire is stronger for it. He and Ruqi are here, together, with no need for shame or secrecy--and both of them are stronger for that, as well.

***

After several weeks of leisure, the longest break they've enjoyed in some time, they're returning to active duty today, returning to Quesh on a new mission for Baras. As Quinn prepares the Fury for departure, he performs his duties with his usual efficiency, but his mind is not on his work.

It's been an eventful few weeks, starting with his being called before a disciplinary committee on Dromund Kaas. Quinn didn't expect his killing of Moff Broysc to be without repercussion--summary execution of a Moff by a captain is not something Imperial High Command can turn a blind eye to, no matter who the Moff in question was. But in the end, the official censure handed down was little more than a slap on the wrist for form's sake. Whether they're willing to admit it or not, everyone knows he acted in the Empire's best interests. 

With the hearing out of the way, he and Ruqi have had some time to themselves. They've used it well, seeing the sights of Kaas City together, visiting family--and setting aside time for more private activities. They spent the last two days of their leave at the Dromund Kaas apartment, and the better part of those two days indulging in the kind of marathon lovemaking that, until recently, Quinn would have thought was strictly a younger man's game.

Ruqi had been intent on proving him wrong on that front, starting in the foyer moments after their arrival (pushing him up against the floor-to-ceiling windows and going to her knees, Quinn threading his hands into her hair and letting his head fall back against cool transparisteel, the patter of the rain and occasional rumble of thunder mingling with the noises she was drawing from him) and culminating in the sumptuous master bedroom last night (sweat-soaked and breathing hard, sure he was utterly spent until she curled her fingers around him and murmured _just a little more_ , mielis, _can you give me a bit more?_ ). 

After that last helpless, shuddering climax, they'd slept, deeply and peacefully, tangled up in the bedclothes and each other. Quinn had woken first, opening his eyes to see Ruqi nestled into the pillows across from him, her hair a tousled mess and her face peaceful in the soft grey light of a Kaas City morning, and felt his heart clench just from the sight of her.

He keeps himself on task for their departure--all proper procedures followed and the optimal hyperspace route plotted, despite a moment where Ruqi stood close enough for him to smell her skin, triggering a memory so vivid it was momentarily difficult to remember his own name, let alone how to program a navicomputer. The hyperspace journey gives him ample opportunity to think, and by the time they arrive on Quesh and dock at the orbital station, he knows what he wants to say. Needs to say, without wasting any more time than he has with her already.

He waits until they're alone on the bridge, then clears his throat and speaks.

"My lord, I'm pleased to report that everything is in order. The ship and crew are operating at peak efficiency."

She looks over at him with a fond, indulgent smile. "What about you, Captain? Are you also operating at peak efficiency?"

There's a hint of gentle teasing in her voice, and he thinks she can tell he's not saying what he truly wants to. Patient as ever, she's letting him work up to it in his own way.

"Not exactly," he replies, stepping closer to her. "There's much I wish to communicate to you, but I've been waiting for a moment of privacy."

They're alone right now, but that could easily change, and as much as he wants to say what's in his heart he can't stand the thought of such a moment being interrupted by one of the others. 

Ruqi leans toward him, lowering her voice conspiratorially despite the lack of anyone else on the bridge. "Say it so only I can hear."

He can't resist her, of course. He never had a chance. "With pleasure," he says, and reaches down to take one of her hands in his. "I'm falling in love with you. What's more, I think you're falling in love with me. Am I wrong?"

"I feel the same way, _mielis_ ," she replies, eyes alight with joy. 

Quinn takes hold of her waist and pulls her against him, kissing her deeply as her hands come to rest on his shoulders. He pulls back all too soon, the insistent call of duty warring with the temptation to forget everything else while she is in his arms.

"Now we've said it," he says, hands still resting on the slim curve of her waist. "Later, we'll show it."

Ruqi smoothes her hands across his shoulders and down the front of his jacket. "Nothing would please me more, Malavai. When I return from Quesh."

"Be safe, my lord," he tells her, resisting the urge to add that he's far from confident in Pierce's ability to safeguard her with the same care he would.

"Am I not always?" she says, and then puts a finger to his lips. "Don't answer that. The ship is yours, Captain."

Things aboard the ship are peaceful after Ruqi and Pierce depart, even Vette thankfully quiet for once. Quinn goes about his duties with his thoughts still lingering on Ruqi, on memories of everything they've already shared and longing anticipation of everything still to come.

The holoterminal beeps, and Quinn glances at his datapad, taking a moment to frown at the completely unfamiliar frequency before he accepts the call. A pure-blooded Sith he doesn't recognize flickers into view.

"I am Servant One of the Emperor's Hand," the man declares, in a tone that gives his words weight and import despite Quinn being fairly certain he's never heard of an Emperor's Hand, or a Servant One thereof. "You are Captain Malavai Quinn, servant to Lord Ruqi Keres."

Quinn's posture automatically shifts to parade rest, feet apart and hands clasped at the small of his back. "I am," he says with pride. "My lord is planetside at the moment, if you wish to speak with her."

"I know where she is," Servant One informs him. "Gather the others aboard, Malavai Quinn. We will speak."


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shit continues to get real. Ruqi makes a call. So does Quinn.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Quinncident buildup ahoy! 
> 
> Also, I'm taking advantage of certain game conceits like the way information seems to travel at the speed of plot here. I am also ignoring the Hand saying that Baras thinks the SW is dead after the attack on Quesh, because I figure if Baras is as cunning and well-informed as the game makes him out to be, it wouldn't take him that long to figure out Ruqi's still alive.

Ruqi returns to the ship with healing wounds and a look of grim determination, and confirms what her crew was told by the enigmatic Hand in her absence.

"When this Servant One contacted us in your absence, I didn't know what to make of it," Quinn says as he passes a medical scanner over her. "So...it's true? You've been chosen as the Emperor's Wrath?"

The very name sounds portentous. The Wrath is a legend; Quinn can count on one hand the things he's heard about the Emperor's personal executioner that are verifiable fact rather than fear-shrouded rumor.

"If the Hand is to be trusted, I suppose I am," Ruqi replies solemnly. 

"Are we sure they should be?" Vette asks, with no trace of her usual humor. "No offense, but...how do we know those guys are the real deal? Couldn't they be, I don't know, a couple of random Sith claiming to speak for the Emperor, the same way they say Baras is?"

"We don't, and they could be," Ruqi says. "But I know we need allies and resources if we're going to stand against Baras, and right now the Hand is the best we have."

Quinn glances down, fussing needlessly with his scanner. "So you do plan to fight against him?"

There's a hard edge to Ruqi's voice as she answers. "Well, I don't plan to sit and wait for him to try and kill me again, so I don't see what other choice I have." She rises from her seat to pace in agitation, then turns to face them all, arms folded across her chest. "I'm sorry. I know what I have to do, but being part of a battle between Sith isn't something I can ask any of you to do lightly. I'd understand if you have reservations about this."

Broonmark shakes his head, as if objecting to the very idea of not standing with his chosen clan leader. " _Vengeance feeds us. The clan must be cleansed_." 

"Didn't care for old man Baras anyway," Pierce says dismissively.

"I believe you have the strength to defeat Baras, my lord," Jaesa says in her calm, resolute way. "You've maneuvered even closer to the heart of the Empire. Great strides can be made."

Vette shrugs. "Hey, you know I'm with you against Baras. I just say we keep our guard up around those Hand weirdos while we're at it."

Ruqi smiles wryly. "Don't worry, Vette, I won't be caught off-guard again." She glances at Quinn, the only one remaining who hasn't voiced his support of her.

He gives her a deferential nod, feeling the weight of the rest of the crew's eyes on him, as well. "The ship is ready for departure, my lord. I await your word."

It's the most enthusiastic response he can give at the moment, and from the way Ruqi's smile slips, he knows she was hoping for more. 

"Very well, Captain," is all she says. 

***

She finds him on the bridge later, after they've made the jump to hyperspace. "I am sorry, Malavai," she says before he can say anything, moving to stand beside him and taking both his hands in hers. "I know how difficult this must be for you. I know how much you respect Baras, how indebted to him you feel. For your sake more than anything else, I wish it didn't have to be this way."

Quinn closes his eyes for a moment, then lifts their joined hands and kisses her fingers. "Truly, the idea of opposing Lord Baras does not sit easy with me. But...I serve you. I pledged myself to you." He lets go of her hands to cup her face, leaning his forehead against hers as he whispers, "I love you, Ruqi."

She lets out a sigh of relief, leaning against him. "I don't think I could do this without you," she murmurs, and tilts her head up to kiss him. "It'll be all right. As long as we have each other, I know we can make it through this."

Quinn has no other answer for that than to run a hand through her hair and tug her in for another kiss, and she doesn't ask him for one. 

By the time they arrive in orbit over Belsavis, there's a message waiting for him, one he's been expecting since he spoke to Servant One. He waits until Ruqi departs for the planet with Vette at her side, then shuts himself up in private, heart heavy in his chest. 

Up until now, he's felt relatively little compunction over his periodic reports to Baras. Naturally, there were qualms when he realized Ruqi was serious about pursuing him, and more when he realized the depths of his feelings for her. But Quinn's always firmly believed he had little real choice in the matter--had he refused to make his reports, he's certain that somehow, some way, Baras would have seen him removed from Ruqi's side and replaced with someone who would. And he can honestly say that none of his private communications with Baras have ever contained anything that could truly hurt her.

Until now.

By the time Baras's image comes up on the holo, Quinn's schooled his face into careful impassiveness. "My lord," he says with a bow.

"Let us dispense with the pleasantries, Captain," Baras says with a dismissive wave of his hand. "I know my former apprentice is still alive, and I know she was contacted by the Emperor's Hand."

"Yes, my lord." Quinn doesn't bother to deny it, but he does wonder how Baras knows. He's always believed himself to be the only one on the ship reporting to Baras--was he wrong about that? Has Baras bugged the ship itself, or does he have some other way of following Ruqi's actions? "They said--"

Baras interrupts him. "I know what they said, and let me be quite clear: they are wrong. Whatever claim the Hand might once have had to speak for the Emperor , they do not speak for him any longer, and my apprentice is not the Wrath."

"As you say," Quinn says with a deferential nod. He still doesn't know what to make of the Hand's claim, but he's not about to argue with Baras about it.

"I hardly think I need to tell you that this does not alter our arrangement," Baras goes on. "You still serve me, you will continue to report to me on Ruqi's actions. I know she now moves against me, but for the moment I have greater concerns. If the time comes when she poses a real threat, I will determine how best to deal with her."

"If I may, my lord," Quinn says, wondering if Baras can sense his fear even through a remote connection, "Lord Keres has been a most valuable asset to both you and the Empire as a whole. Perhaps we could turn her from this path, convince her that the Hand are not her true allies. It seems a shame to even contemplate losing her."

"It does, doesn't it?" Baras agrees. "But it cannot be helped. Even if we put a stop to this mad plan of the Hand's, it is the way of Sith to seek to supplant their masters eventually. Ruqi's loss will be a tragedy, but sooner or later, she will have to be dealt with."

Quinn has seen Baras kill men with the Force via holo, more than once. Even so, stopping the protest that rises in his throat requires him to literally bite his tongue, sharp pain flooding his mouth and giving him the control he needs.

"But that is not your concern now, Captain. Remain in her service and make your reports. If I require more, you may be sure I will let you know."

Quinn can still taste her on his lips, still see the way she practically glows with joy during their private moments and hear the fond lilt in her voice when she calls him _mielis_.

He bows his head obediently. "As you command, my lord."

As Baras disconnects, Quinn's already calculating probabilities and running through potential scenarios in his head, searching for any path that leads to an acceptable outcome.

If there is one, he can't see it.

***

Until the moment she looks a fellow Sith Lord in the eye and claims the title of Wrath, Ruqi isn't entirely sure she believes it. She says it anyway, with all the conviction she can summon, and the assassin Lord Mellicoste had hoped to recruit studies her for a moment, then nods. 

"There is truth in your words," he declares. "I can feel it."

The next time she says it, facing Darth Ekkage with a Jedi of all people at her side, she doesn't need another to tell her it rings true. 

"I am the Emperor's Wrath, unleashed by his Hand," she declares, feeling the weight of the words in her mouth just as she feels the weight of her lightsaber in her hand. "And the Emperor has marked you and your brother as enemies."

The fight is brief, Ekkage's strength sapped by her long imprisonment. The Jedi, Timmns, suggests returning their defeated foe to captivity, but Ruqi shakes her head.

"Here's a better idea," she says, raising her blade before Timmns can intervene.

"You shouldn't have killed her like that," the Jedi protests after Ekkage falls. "We could have locked her away again."

"And leave her for Baras to try and free again after I leave here?" Ruqi powers down her saber and glances at her reluctant ally. "Now there's no chance of that."

Timmns frowns. "Your logic is sound, but this still feels wrong."

"And perhaps it would feel wrong to me to leave her to languish forever in the depths of a Republic prison, rather than meet death at the hands of a foe who bested her," Ruqi counters.

He shakes his head, looking and sounding for all the world like a disapproving schoolteacher. "I hope you'll come to see that to defy your former master, you have to walk a different path."

Ruqi's lip curls in a snarl. "I've been walking a different path from Baras since the day I was born, Master Timmns. Do not presume that because I am Sith, you know all there is to know about me."

"Perhaps I don't," he concedes, giving her an assessing look. "Now, what's to be between us? Do we part as friends or enemies?"

She shrugs, clipping her saber onto her belt. "Enemies who share a greater enemy. I have no reason to fight you today, Master Jedi. Perhaps someday I will, or perhaps when this war is over, we'll speak again."

Timmns follows suit with his own weapon, then bows his head to her. "I'll look forward to that opportunity, Sith."

***

There's much to think about on her return to the ship, both in terms of her new assignment from the Hand, and the implications of her time on Belsavis. If Baras doesn't already know she survived his attack on Quesh, he will soon, which means she needs to factor the chance of another assassination attempt into her plans.

Before that, though, she retreats to her quarters alone and pulls out her private holocom. Now that she's struck her first blow against Baras--now that she's more confident that the task before her is something she can actually do--she has a call to make.

Amasis Keres looks to be seated behind a desk, likely in her office at the Korriban Academy. The look of relief that crosses her face at the sight of her daughter is so brief it might have been imagined, and all she says is, "You're not dead, then."

"Not yet," Ruqi confirms, folding her arms across her chest. "Baras didn't think he needed to kill me himself."

"Then he's underestimated you," her mother says, and levels a stern look at her. "Take care you don't share in his mistake."

"I'm not," Ruqi assures her. "That's part of why I risked calling, I wanted to check if you and the others are all right."

"We're fine," Amasis tells her. "Your father and I can take care of ourselves, as you well know. Nivony's sticking close to her master, and Zrisha's spending a season assisting with your father's expedition, so he can keep a close eye on her."

"And Tashom?" Ruqi asks. Tradition dictates an acolyte on Korriban should be safe from any outside feud touching him, but she knows better than to think Baras has any respect for the sanctity of the Academy.

"I've informed the Overseers who have charge of him that there's a conflict involving a member of his family. As long as he doesn't wander off into the tombs alone or take any other foolish risks, he should be fine." Amasis leans forward, steepling her fingers. "What about you?"

 _Apparently, I'm the Emperor's Wrath_ , Ruqi thinks, but she's not ready to share that particular bit of news with her mother yet. "I'm all right. Gathering my strength, and doing what I can to lessen his."

"Good," her mother says. She studies Ruqi's face for a moment with a calm, assessing look, then asks, "Do you want our help?"

Ruqi shakes her head at once. "If you publicly support me in this and I fail, Baras could punish our whole family for it. Maintain neutrality, and you should be all right no matter what happens to me."

Amasis waves an impatient hand. "I didn't ask for a lesson in Sith politics from someone I taught them to, I asked if you want our help."

It's tempting. Ruqi draws in a breath, lets it out slowly, and shakes her head again. "No. I'll deal with him myself."

Amasis gives a satisfied nod. "Good girl. In that case, it's best we don't speak again until this is over."

"I know," Ruqi says solemnly. "Give my love to everyone, and tell them I'll see them soon, if the Force wills it."

"Remember what we taught you. Show the bastard how a Keres wages war."

Ruqi lifts her chin proudly. "I intend to, Mother."

For just a moment, her mother smiles. "Go break your chains, child."


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ruqi continues the campaign to weaken Baras, facing threats from both without and within. (OR: We are T-minus one chapter until Quinncident time, I'm fine we're all fine here thanks how are you?)

Ruqi would never claim not to know fear--it's part of being Sith, taking fear and turning it into strength, the same as any other emotion--but she can say there are few times in her life when she's been starkly, completely terrified. When she was young and Tashom fell out of a tree while she was supposed to be watching him. The first time she was ever in a fight for her life, wondering for one interminable moment if her skills and training would fail her when it really mattered.

Returning from the surface of Hoth to find the airlock where she'd docked in chaos and her crew scattered across the floor, unconscious and bleeding, with Lord Draahg standing over them.

Her sudden fear for them is a sour taste in her mouth and an insistent, pounding beat in her chest and head, but she knows how to use that, how to make it work for her as she tears down her opponent. Draahg is larger, more physically powerful, and they're a near if not total match in training, but only one of them is defending their loved ones.

When she finally sends him tumbling over the railing and into the flames below, Ruqi can't help but take a moment to savor it, but this isn't the time for bloodthirsty gloating. Instead, she snaps at Broonmark to help her tend to the wounded, then kneels to bend over Quinn, who jerks awake when she touches him, hand closing around her wrist.

"My lord! Draahg--"

"Has been dealt with," she tells him, helping him sit up. "How badly are you hurt?"

He winces when he moves, hissing through his teeth, but then says, "Not badly. I should see to the others."

"Are you sure?" Ruqi asks, concern over him warring with concern for the rest of the crew.

"It's my duty, my lord," he says, already making his way toward where Jaesa lies. Broonmark has Pierce, so Ruqi goes to Vette, easily lifting the Twi'lek's slight form.

On the ship, she ignores the beep of an incoming call on the holoterminal and cuts off whatever groveling Twovee was about to launch into with an order to assist in the medbay. As she deposits Vette on one of the medical beds, Quinn is already prepping the kolto tank.

"What can I do to help?" Ruqi asks, hating the helpless feeling as she looks around. Outside the door, the holoterminal is still beeping insistently. "And who the _blazes_ is calling us at a time like this?"

"It may be important, my lord," Quinn says, in the middle of trying to remove Jaesa's armor without moving her more than necessary. "Between Broonmark and Twoovee, I believe I can manage."

"All right," she says reluctantly. "I'll be back soon."

In the lounge, she punches the holoterminal's console with such excessive force that for a moment she thinks she's broken it. Then the blurry image that comes up resolves itself into Servants One and Two, and Ruqi snaps, "What is it now?"

Servant One frowns. "We are aware of the attack on your ship, Wrath, but do not misdirect your anger. Save it for Baras."

She lets out a mirthless laugh, folding her arms. "My people were just nearly killed by a man suffering from the delusion that he was unbeatable, trust me, I have _plenty_ of anger to go around. What do you _want_?"

By the time she ends her conversation with them and steps back into the medbay, Quinn does seem to have handled things well enough. What she finds still makes her ill with mingled worry and anger. Jaesa is in the kolto tank, clearly in rough shape, Pierce on one of the medical beds, unconscious and heavily bandaged. Vette is seated on the other bed, stripped to the waist and looking uncharacteristically wan and solemn. There's already a bandage wrapped around her ribs, and Quinn is tending to a burn on her shoulder. For his part, he's stripped off his jacket, leaving him in the thin shirt he wears beneath. As he moves, he winces and reaches around to press a hand to his lower back, where his shirt rides up enough for Ruqi to see a hastily placed and taped medical pad, already soaking through with blood.

"Jaesa took the brunt of the attack, my lord," Quinn informs her when he notices her in the doorway. "She sensed Draahg's approach and moved to intercept him before any of the rest of us knew what was happening. Pierce was right behind her. I'll fill out a full report when I'm done here, of course."

Vette lifts her unwounded arm and jerks a thumb toward him. "We almost die, and this guy's thinking about the paperwork."

Ruqi crosses the room in a few swift steps and throws an arm around each of them, doing her best to avoid their injuries.

"My lord," Quinn murmurs, a halfhearted protest even as his arm goes around her.

"If you're going to tell me about how my hugging the two of you like this goes against standard military protocol, you can just hush," Ruqi tells him, and feels a soft puff of breath that's not quite a laugh against her ear.

"Of course, my lord." 

She draws back, casting another concerned glance at the wound on his back. "And finish taking care of Vette so that one of us can take a proper look at this."

One of them ends up being her, sitting behind him and carefully following his instructions. Sitting in front of her, stripped to the waist with his head bowed slightly, Quinn looks deceptively fragile.

"I think it's safe to assume Baras knows I killed his sister," Ruqi comments as she patches him up. 

"Indeed," Quinn agrees. "And when Draahg doesn't report back, Baras will know he's failed. It would be prudent to expect another attack."

"I thought I was ready, but I was expecting an attack on _me_. I should have known Draahg wouldn't face me honorably," Ruqi says, and then lays a hand on his back, stroking his skin gently. "When I saw you all lying there...for a moment I feared the worst."

Quinn reaches a hand back toward her and she clasps it in hers. "It would take much more than Draahg to take me from you, my lord."

His emotions are so strong in that moment that Ruqi can't help but feel the echo of them, fear and worry and deep anxiety. She moves closer, careful of his wound, and rests her head between his shoulder blades. "I know. And nothing's going to take me from you, either."

Quinn half-turns, putting an arm around her and kissing her hair as she leans into his side. "So," he says after a few quiet moments. "We have a new assignment from the Hand?"

Ruqi makes a noise of assent. "They're sending us someplace called Voss, apparently."

***

Ruqi and Quinn are both quiet and solemn as they prepare to leave Voss, after what happened in the Dark Heart. They're almost back to the ship when Quinn speaks up.

"My lord, may I ask you something?"

"Of course," she replies. 

"You've expressed doubts in the past as to whether or not the Hand are to be trusted," he points out. "How do you feel about the matter now? Do you believe the being we met in the Dark Heart was truly the Emperor's Voice?"

"It was...something," Ruqi says quietly. "I've never heard the Emperor speak before or been in his presence, I have no basis for comparison, but...whoever, whatever that being was, I've never felt anything so strong in the Force." 

Quinn arches a brow, his hands clasped behind his back. "Quite a sobering thought, to think we have heard his Voice when so many who serve him never have."

"Yes, it is," Ruqi agrees. Before she can say any more, rich yellow light floods the dim airlock, and she turns to see Magada-Ru standing behind her. 

"I come to repay what I took," the mystic says. "Knowledge, and a warning."

She doesn't discuss the Voss's warning with anyone, including Quinn, telling him she needs time to think. Which she does, alone in her quarters, but without reaching any satisfactory conclusions.

It could be a trick, especially with the warning being vague enough to put her on her guard without giving her any really useful information. It also sounds exactly like something Baras would do, having an agent aboard her ship all this time, turning one of her people against her. She just...doesn't want to believe that any of them would be easy to turn.

She realizes, the knowledge settling in the pit of her stomach like a stone, that the only one she can be completely sure of is Broonmark. She can't think of a single thing Baras could offer the Talz, or threaten him with, to make betraying his clan leader worth it. The others, though? It feels like swallowing poison to admit how easily she can see betrayal from them, but...Quinn owes his career to Baras, admires him, has been the most reluctant to go against him. Pierce is unapologetically ambitious, and surely knows the potential price of serving a fallen Sith hunted by her former master. Then, too, it doesn't have to be a question of personal gain--Quinn has his mother on Dromund Kaas, Pierce has a father and sister on Ziost. The same goes for Vette and Jaesa. She doesn't think those two feel any loyalty to Baras, or that they'd betray her for ambition or reward, but what if Baras found Tivva, or Vette's old Twi'lek gang? What if he got to Jaesa's parents? Ruqi tries to remember the last time she checked up on the Wilsaams, or recall where Tivva planned to go after Ruqi bought her freedom, and realizes guiltily that she can't.

And what is she to do with this knowledge? Confront her crew, demand they prove their loyalty to her? How? Stay on her guard and wait for the traitor to reveal themselves? She's never had a taste for the shadow games some Sith revel in, and she's never felt less suited to play them than with these four people, each of whom she loves, each of whom she would give her life for. 

In the end, she doesn't know what to do, other than forge ahead with the campaign against Baras and try to be ready for whatever comes.

***

There are a few things Quinn knows for certain.

One, he can't kill her himself. Literally can't, he's seen her make short work of opponents much stronger than him, but even if it were a possibility, he doubts he could bring himself to do it. There are some things he still shrinks from, it seems, even having committed himself to this plan.

Two, there is no way through this but death, be it hers or his. If he tries to back out now, Baras will kill him. If he breaks down and confesses everything to Ruqi, either she or Baras will kill him. The only way he can see out of this is to do as he's been told.

Which brings him to a third thing he knows: he's not brave enough or honest enough or good enough to stand against Baras with Ruqi and die with her. This isn't some epic romance, and he isn't a hero--he's a man who wants to make it out of this alive, and if that means living as a traitor to the woman he loves, so be it.

He's alone on the bridge at the moment, holding a datapad set to automatically lock itself behind triple encryption if it sits idle for more than a minute. They're still drifting in orbit over Voss, awaiting further instructions from the Hand, which has given Quinn the time he needs to complete the schematics he began work on after his last conversation with Baras ("you will deal with this, Captain, or I will personally see to it that you beg for death before it is granted to you"). All that's left is to send them to another of Baras's agents, who will see to the construction, and then wait. 

He makes a few final adjustments, lets his finger hover over the surface of the datapad for a moment, and then hits the button to transmit.

The schematics are safely locked away again by the time Ruqi comes up to the bridge, leaning one hip against the doorway. "There you are. Were you planning on coming to bed anytime soon?"

Quinn's throat is dry, but he clears it and speaks in the most normal tone he can manage. "Forgive me, my lord. I got distracted."

She smiles and walks toward him. "Distracting you is supposed to be my job."

He has no right to touch her any longer, he knows he doesn't, but her hands are on his shoulders and his are on her waist, and then she's sliding into his lap. 

"Are you all right, Malavai?" she asks, bringing one hand up to smooth his hair back from his forehead. "You seem...I don't know. Is anything wrong?"

Quinn closes his eyes, leaning forward so his head rests between her breasts. She cups the back of his neck and puts her other arm around his shoulders, her touch gentle, protective. "Just tired, my love," he says quietly.

She hums softly, stroking hair as he lifts his head a bit and presses a series of soft kisses between the ridges on her chest. "Then come to bed," she tells him.

He keeps kissing her, feeling her breath start to come faster as his lips move over her skin, and then tilts his head back. Reaching up to hold the back of her head, he tugs her down and crushes his mouth to hers. She leans into him, one hand on his chest, letting him control the kiss. She always has liked it when he does that.

She pulls back at length, breathing heavily, and licks kiss-swollen lips before murmuring, "I thought you were tired."

"Perhaps I overestimated how tired I really am," he breathes in reply, tilting his head to kiss her jaw and her neck. Holding her and kissing her like this won't drown out the insistent chorus of _liar, coward, traitor_ in his mind, and it won't do anything to change or mitigate his actions. He does it anyway.


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ruqi and Quinn undergo a mission in preparation for their journey to Corellia, or heeeeeeeeeey, guess what time it is?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HAHAHA SO. A draft of the Quinncident was one of the first things I wrote for Ruqi and Quinn, but by the time I'd written everything building up to it it naturally needed to be reworked a bit. Hope everyone enjoys ("enjoys") the result! I'm gonna go cry in the corner and yell "SOMEONE FIX THEM" and temporarily ignore that I am, in fact, the one who has to fix them.

When Quinn presents her with a sudden obstacle to her assignment on Corellia, and just as quickly offers a solution to that problem--a solution that just happens to involve the two of them boarding an unfamiliar ship--Ruqi would be a fool not to consider the possibility that he's the traitor. When they step into an empty room on the transponder ship and the door shuts behind them, she'd be a fool not to realize what this looks like. That doesn't mean it's easy to accept, that she isn't desperately hoping this _isn't_ what it looks like-- _not him, let it be Pierce or Broonmark, even Vette or Jaesa, just not_ him--until he starts talking and she can't hold onto that hope any longer.

"Don't," she interrupts, her voice muffled in her own ear by the roaring of her blood. "Don't do this, Malavai. Please."

"I didn't want to choose between you and Baras," Quinn says, sorrowful but composed. "But he's forced my hand. You are...a truly remarkable woman, my lord, and one of the strongest Sith I've ever known, but for over a decade I've watched Baras outwit and outplay everyone who opposed him. Siding with him is the only way to survive."

"No." Ruqi shakes her head and takes a step forward, holding out a hand. "No, that's not true. I can defeat him. _We_ can defeat him, together."

He seems to hesitate for a moment, then shakes his head. "I wish I could believe that."

"I'll believe it for both of us," she tells him, holding out both hands now in a pleading gesture. "Just...don't do whatever you're about to do, Malavai. Just stop, and we can go home and forget this happened."

"I'm afraid that's no longer an option," he says just before the doors open. Two large droids scuttle into the room, sleek and new-looking. "These war droids have been programmed specifically to combat you. I calculate a near-zero chance of their failure."

If it were anyone else, she might be able to shoot off a glib response about how he should have brought more than two, or how a near-zero chance of beating them is all she needs. Because it's him, all she can do is shake her head, gripping her lightsaber hilt.

"Don't make me do this, Malavai," she says, trying one last time to put a stop to this. "I don't want to hurt you."

"Nor I you," he replies, and the fact that she can tell how much he means it is maybe the worst thing about this. "I'm sorry, my lord."

Her head is spinning, her heart still desperate to deny that this is happening, but her body knows what to do. As Quinn draws his blaster, she ignores the droids for the moment and runs toward him. As he raises the gun, the look on his face isn't fear, or a challenge, but just blank acceptance, replaced by momentary confusion when she doesn't bring her blade to bear on him but instead grabs his wrist with her free hand. She wrenches his arm hard enough to make him cry out and drop the blaster, then brings her saber arm up, but only to rear back and slam her elbow into his jaw. As blood flies from a cut to his mouth, she gathers the Force around her hand and shoves. Quinn flies backward, boots skidding on the floor, and thuds against the wall. Ruqi turns to face the droids, lightsaber flaring into life.

It's a shorter battle than she expected. She wonders if, in all his careful planning, it ever occurred to him that he might not be able to calculate for her destruction as objectively as he seems to think he has. Or perhaps he just didn't know how to account for the destructive power a Sith can draw on when you've just broken her heart.

She takes one out, then the second, driving her lightsaber through its head and giving it a vicious twist for good measure. Then she rounds on Quinn, standing by the wall with his injured wrist cradled in his other hand.

"I should have known," he says softly. Even in the face of failure, even as she stalks toward him with her blade still drawn, there's admiration in his eyes along with fear. 

"Yes," Ruqi agrees softly, extending one hand and pushing him back against the wall as she keeps advancing. "You should have."

"My lord," Quinn says as she approaches, and then, softly, "Ruqi--"

" _Don't_ ," she snaps, lifting her hand to focus her Force grip on his neck. It's not enough to hurt, not yet, but it is enough to pin him in place and force his head back slightly, leaving the line of his throat exposed. 

He doesn't struggle against her grip, just waits a moment and speaks again, quietly determined. "I have betrayed you. Conspired with your most hated enemy. I do not expect your mercy--"

Ruqi moves nearer, until she's close enough to kiss him--or choke the life out of him with her bare hand rather than the Force.

"If I spare you," she says in a low voice, "your life belongs to me. Whatever happens from this point on, you're not Baras's creature anymore. You're _mine_. Do you understand?"

He closes his eyes, swallowing against the pressure on his throat. "Yes, my lord."

All her life, she's struggled for balance, tried to let the dark side fuel her strength while the light tempers her rage. It's never been so difficult. Half of her is screaming for vengeance, for him to hurt the way he's hurt her. She should crush the breath from his throat, tear his heart from his chest. It would be so easy. It would be what he deserves.

The other half of her, calm and implacable, whispers _You said you wouldn't hurt him. You told him he didn't need to fear you._

She takes a step back and releases him, and he falls to his knees with a gasp. Powering down her saber and returning it to her belt, Ruqi reaches out, pauses when he flinches, and then slowly lays her hand on his head, stroking his hair. 

"I forgive you, Malavai."

The words are hollow and ashen in her mouth, but she _wants_ to mean them, as badly as she wants for this to have never happened. 

He draws in a shuddering, gasping breath, nearly a sob, and reaches blindly for her hand. Ruqi lets him take it, lets him cling to it and press his lips to it, though her fingers are limp in his. 

"My lord," he says at length. "I don't know if I can ever atone for this, but given the chance, I swear, I will try."

Ruqi looks over at the shattered wrecks of his droids. "I can understand why you did this," she tells him. She purposefully keeps her voice cool and remote, a lord of the Sith speaking to her vassal. "I can believe you truly thought the only way to survive Baras was to obey him." She glances back at Quinn, raising him to his feet, and looks him in the eye. "I _am_ going to defeat him, Captain. Will you stand with me when I do it?"

"Yes," he says at once. "My dedication to you will never come into question again."

"I want to believe that." He's still clasping her hand tightly; Ruqi disengages herself, gently but firmly, and steps back. "It may take some time before I can believe it completely, before my trust in you can be rebuilt. But I'm willing to try."

"I understand, my lord," he replies, heartfelt. "And I'll understand if things are...different between us, until I can prove myself to you. Thank you for giving me the chance."

To an outside observer, Ruqi thinks, there'd be little visible difference in the two people who boarded the transponder ship and the two who leave it. To her, there's a world of difference. Boarding the vessel, they were Ruqi and Malavai; leaving it, they are Lord Keres and Captain Quinn. The rest of Baras's plan may have failed, but he succeeded in dealing that blow to them, and whether or not they can recover from it is something it hurts too much to contemplate right now.

***

She doesn't tell any of the others what happened on the transponder ship. If Quinn keeps his word to serve her faithfully from now on, the others never need to know about it. If he doesn't, she'll kill him. For now, she wants her crew working together efficiently and presenting a united front against Baras, and that means Quinn still needs to be able to function as her Captain.

But even moving at light speed, it's a long way to Corellia--a long way for Ruqi to hide the impact of what's happened from the rest of her companions.

Alone on the bridge, Quinn dismissed to his quarters with a simple, clipped "Your presence is not required until further notice, Captain", Ruqi slumps into the pilot's chair, leaning her elbow on the arm of the chair and dropping her face into her hand. She wonders idly if this would be any easier if she were a Jedi. Perhaps Jaesa would be willing to share some meditation techniques without too many questions about why a Sith suddenly wants to repress her passions.

"Hey, uh, boss? Ruqi?"

Ruqi lifts her head and cranes her neck to see Vette hovering near the doorway. "Yes? Do you need something, Vette?"

Vette comes further onto the bridge and drops into a chair. "So, okay, I've never been real good at the whole subtlety thing, so I'm just gonna ask--did you and Quinn have a fight or something?"

Ruqi smiles mirthlessly. "It's that obvious, is it?"

"Well...yeah, kinda. You guys were all lovey-dovey--right on the line between 'really cute' and 'kind of gross', I would have said--and now you're...not." Vette says, looking at Ruqi with open concern on her face. 

Ruqi looks away. "I appreciate your concern, Vette, but I'd rather not talk about it."

"That's fine," Vette says. "I just want to make sure you know I'm here if you do want to talk about it. Or if you want me to distract you by talking about completely unrelated things." She pauses a moment, then adds, " _Or_ if you want me to order a crate of Kowakian monkey-lizards off the Holonet and release them in Quinn's quarters."

Ruqi lets out a startled laugh, then reaches over and puts a hand on Vette's arm. "Thank you, Vette. I don't know what I'd do without you."

"Lead a considerably more boring existence," Vette informs her, sliding her arm through Ruqi's grasp until their hands touch. "So, you need anything? Anything I can bring you on the bridge, that is, if you want enemies to slaughter or something like that you're gonna have to wait 'til we get to Corellia."

Ruqi smirks and squeezes her hand briefly before letting go. "No, thank you. Right now I just need time to think."

***

Later, when she's had time to think, to center herself, she summons Quinn to her quarters.

She summons him using the most official language possible, and he appears before her in full uniform, standing at attention with his hands at his side. The only signs of what happened earlier are the bruise forming on his jaw, a split lip, and a kolto wrap on his arm. 

Under the circumstances, it seems absurd that Ruqi should be as affected as she is by the thought that she did that to him.

"Did I hurt you badly?" she asks, which wasn't what she was planning to say at all.

Quinn glances down at his wrist and shakes his head. "Just a sprain. You were a model of restraint, my lord."

The compliment tips the situation over into surreal, and Ruqi laughs softly, shaking her head. Quinn seems to relax just a fraction, and gives her an earnest look.

"And you, my lord? Have you had someone see to your wounds?"

She goes cold in an instant, her smile vanishing. "Don't do that," she says flatly. "You don't get to be concerned for me, not now."

He bows his head contritely. "Of course. I only thought that--well, you--"

"I get to be concerned about what I've done to you," she explains. "You get to stand quietly unless I ask you a question, because the time for you to be concerned about what you've done to me was _before you did it_. Is that clear, Captain?"

He presses his lips together tightly for a moment, then nods. "Yes, my lord."

Ruqi's anger reminds her why she summoned him, and she forges ahead. "How long were you planning this?" she asks. "Those droids weren't programmed overnight, how long have you been plotting against me with Baras?"

"After you fought Draahg on Hoth," Quinn answers promptly. "When he failed to kill you, Baras ordered me to do it. But--"

"Go on," she says firmly when he hesitates. 

"But you should know I've been in communication with Baras since long before that, my lord," he tells her. "I've been sending him reports on our activities."

"For how long?" she demands.

He looks away from her, seeming unable to meet her eyes. "Since we met."

Ruqi didn't think she could feel any colder inside, but those words slide into her like ice shards. Since they met. Since--

"Was that why you joined me?" she asks through numb lips. "Were you only ever on my ship because Baras needed a spy?"

 _Of course,_ a voice that sounds unpleasantly like her mother's whispers in her mind. _You met him as one of Baras's agents, you knew he was only able to transfer off Balmorra because Baras allowed it, and then he shows up and pledges himself to you--you naive little girl, what did you_ think _that was?_

Quinn shakes his head, his careful composure slipping, and takes a single step toward her. Ruqi takes a corresponding step back, and he stops himself from going any further. "I joined you because there was nowhere I'd rather have been than fighting for the Empire at your side," he tells her fervently. "Baras took advantage of that, and I came to see it as the unavoidable cost of my service. The cost of being with you." His hands twitch like he wants to reach out to her, and he clasps them behind his back instead. "When we became intimate, I thought it too late to back out of my arrangement with him, but from then on I tried to give the bare minimum of information I thought would satisfy him. I don't imagine that excuses my actions at all, I only offer it as context."

Ruqi laughs again, the sound brittle and bitter this time. "Oh, of course, it's important I have _context_ for the knowledge that you've been Baras's spy the entire time we've been--" She breaks off as another thought occurs to her. "Did you know he was sending Draahg to attack the ship?"

"No," Quinn says, shaking his head again. "He did not see fit to share that plan with me."

"Then you have that to thank him for, at least. If you'd had any part in the others being hurt…" She shakes her head, then looks at him steadily. "Is there anything else you want to tell me?"

"Only how deeply sorry I am," he says, finally meeting her eyes. "For too long, I deluded myself into thinking I could serve both of you. By the time I admitted to myself that was not the case, I was too much of a coward to tell you what I'd done."

"Were you afraid of what he would do to you?" she asks, keeping her voice carefully even. "Or what I would?"

"Both, my lord," he tells her.

She can't keep her voice from breaking as she asks, "Did you have so little faith in me, then?"

Before he can answer, she turns away from him. Her eyes are burning with gathering tears, and she _will not_ cry in front of him. "You are dismissed, Captain," she says curtly. "You are not to enter my quarters without _explicit_ invitation, but otherwise you are free to come and go as usual, and resume your duties. If you give me any cause to doubt your loyalty again, you will not find me inclined to be merciful a second time. Is that understood?"

"Yes, my lord," Quinn says at once, and a moment later Ruqi hears her door slide shut.


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> On Corellia, Ruqi and Quinn take the first steps toward moving on from the transponder ship incident, and Ruqi keeps moving toward her final confrontation with Darth Baras.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, they're not so much "fixed" as "duct-taped back together", but I'm working on it.
> 
> (Also my grudge against Corellia is showing a little. I'm sorry, but you will never convince me it's not dumb for the Empire to pour its resources into occupying a Core World, just like it's dumb for the Republic to pour its resources into trying to rebuild Taris when the lower levels of Coruscant are still in shambles, why is everyone being so dumb, this is why your galaxy is a dumpster fire.)

Quinn seems pleasantly surprised at being chosen to accompany Ruqi on her mission to intercept Baras's assassins on Corellia. She could tell him she wants him where she can keep an eye on him, but that's not the whole truth. They might not be facing Baras himself yet, but word of whatever happens to his agents on Corellia will certainly reach him. 

Ruqi wants him to know she's coming for him with the man he ordered to kill her fighting by her side, to know his attempt to make Quinn her enemy has failed.

With so much of the war effort focused on Corellia, its spaceports are buzzing hives of activity. Quinn and Ruqi stand side-by-side on the bridge as they wait for docking clearance, and he speaks up for the first time since Baras's force transmission ended.

"My lord, I hesitate to say anything that might cast doubt on my reaffirmed commitment to you--"

"Say whatever it is you need to say, Quinn," she tells him.

"I must confess, I find myself still doubting whether this is a fight we can win," he says, and quickly adds, "This does not change the fact that if you are determined to stay this course, I am with you. But...do you really believe we can do this?"

Ruqi can practically see him running the numbers in his head, calculating Baras's considerable experience and power, his position on the Dark Council, his vast network of agents, and against all that...her, and her crew, and a largely absent Emperor who supposedly wants Baras gone but seems content to let her do most of the work of removing him.

She imagines their odds don't look terribly good. She knows it makes no difference.

"I believe I have to try," she tells him. "You and I both know Baras doesn't let go of old grudges--if I relent now, he may be content to it lie while he makes his grab for power, but he'd come for me eventually. And I don't plan to give him time to undo the work I've done undermining him, or live with a target on my back."

Quinn nods solemnly. "If it were anyone but you, I would say we have no chance, but you've managed to surprise me many times before. I hope this will be no different."

"Trust me, I don't plan on losing this battle," Ruqi says, looking out the viewport at Corellia looming ahead of them. "And not just for myself. I have the rest of you to think of, after all. If I fall now, at _best_ , you and Pierce lose your careers."

Quinn raises an eyebrow. "I can't speak for the Lieutenant, but I would certainly not expect any mercy from Baras in my case."

"Indeed," Ruqi says. "He'd only be likely to let Jaesa live if he could break her spirit as I did not, and that's not even touching what he'd do to Vette and Broonmark." She shakes her head, jaw clenched in determination. "I'm not going to let him hurt any of you, I promise."

Quinn holds a hand out to her, the gesture slow and deliberate and the closest he's come to initiating contact with her since the transponder ship. Ruqi hesitates briefly, then places her hand in his, and he lifts it to his mouth and presses a fervent kiss to the back of it.

"I already owe my life to your mercy and grace, my lord," he says. "I may never be able to repay you, but I will stand with you to the end, or as long as you'll have me." 

Ruqi turns her hand over to touch his cheek, wondering, not for the first time, if Baras knew just how efficiently cruel it was to set Quinn of all people against her. She's going to make him pay for that as much as for everything else.

"It will be a difficult fight," she says. "I'll need my Captain with me."

His eyes meet hers, fingers warm against her wrist, and if it were a few days ago Ruqi would tug him closer and kiss him. It's not, so she turns back to the viewport and lowers her arm, letting her hand slip from his grasp. If he's disappointed, he doesn't let it show.

***

There's a corner of Quinn's mind that keeps insisting this doesn't make sense. For both of them to still be alive, and moreover for him to still be at her side, was an outcome that seemed so unlikely as to be barely worth considering. And yet here they are, two of three assassins thwarted, contact with Darth Vowrawn made, fighting their way across Corellia to continue chipping away at Baras's strength.

The equilibrium between them still feels delicate, but Quinn finds he's settled into the new routine fairly easily. He performs his duties to the best of his ability, he keeps a private accounting of every act of aid and support he's able to render and wonders if that count will ever be high enough to balance out what he did, he tries not to think about how badly he wants to take her in his arms and try to ease some of the pain he's caused with loving touches.

He tries and fails not to wonder if he'll ever hold her in his arms again.

Eliminating Baras's Jedi spy in Axial Park is a challenge; despite Ruqi's best efforts, the others won't believe she's there to root out a traitor in their midst, and three battle-hardened Jedi along with support troops is a test even for her skills. 

She's closely engaged with one of them when another rushes at her back; Quinn takes careful aim and fires, the blaster bolt whizzing past her to strike the Jedi behind her in the chest. It's not enough to kill him, but it buys Ruqi the seconds she needs to strike down the Jedi she's facing, switch her saber to a reverse grip, and rush backwards, impaling the second attacker before he has time to recover. 

Ruqi looks over at Quinn, lips parted like she wants to say something, but then her eyes shift over her shoulder and she yells "Down!". Quinn drops to one knee as the remaining Jedi's lightsaber hums through the air where he just stood. Ruqi deflects it with her own and then runs forward, vaulting straight over Quinn and touching his shoulder briefly, as if for reassurance or luck. Quinn gets to his feet, sweeping the room for any remaining soldiers.

They leave the bunker before Republic reinforcements can arrive, finding a small corner of parkland still untouched by the fighting. There's a wound on Ruqi's shoulder from a Jedi lightsaber, her armor split neatly to reveal burned skin beneath, and Quinn raises a hand toward it. 

"May I, my lord?"

"Hm? Oh, yes, go ahead," she says absently, reaching up to loosen her armor on that side and let him get at the wound. Quinn leans in to examine it, firmly ignoring how being this close to her again makes his insides twist. 

"What are we _doing_ here, Quinn?" Ruqi asks after a moment, and he looks up to see her gazing out at the park, acres of verdant green now turned into a battlefield. "We may take Corellia, but we can't hold it for long, can we?"

She wouldn't be asking if she didn't want his honest assessment. He glances at the destruction around them and shakes his head. "Doubtful, my lord. It's been a great blow to Republic morale, and a testament to the Empire's strength, that we've made it this far. But if Balmorra is any indication, local resistance will not be easily pacified, and the resources it would take to hold a world this deep in Republic space will drain too much of our strength from other fronts."

She nods. "It will certainly be very impressive to see Imperial flags raised on a Core world. But how many soldiers on both sides, how many civilians get to die for what amounts to a publicity stunt?" 

"I imagine no small number of our troops may share your view of the situation, were they to be completely honest," Quinn points out quietly. "But we are here at the Dark Council's command." He finishes he work and taps her shoulder lightly. "There. I can't do much for the armor until we get to a repair droid, but you're patched up."

"Thank you, Quinn." She shrugs the armor back into place and fastens it, then looks out at the park again. "Things need to change. Removing Baras will be a step in the right direction, at least."

Her holocom beeps just then, and she takes Shadow's call. 

"There's been an attack on Darth Vowrawn and your people. Patching you through now."

***

After her conference with Darth Vowrawn at his safe house, Ruqi finds her crew in the next room to confer with them about the attack and their next move.

"Lord Vowrawn spoke very highly of all of you," she tells them.

"Just doing our duty, my lord," Pierce says, though Ruqi can tell how pleased he is. Assuming this doesn't end with them all being executed as traitors, she imagines saving a member of the Dark Council from assassination is going to look rather good on his record.

Vette chuckles. "Didn't look like he had anything nice to say about me when I tackled him back in the spaceport. Until he realized I was doing it because the assassin was about to throw a lightsaber at his head, of course." 

"I can imagine," Ruqi says with a smirk. "You've all done well today. We'll be operating from here until our business on Corellia is finished, so get settled in and be ready for action."

They all spread out, attending to their own concerns: Vette going to talk to some of Vowrawn's entourage, Jaesa meditating, Pierce walking the perimeter and Broonmark doing...whatever Broonmark does when he's not killing people. Quinn is in the safe house's small infirmary, cataloging supplies. Ruqi joins him there, leaning one hip against the medical bed.

"My lord, I'm pleased to report this infirmary is well-stocked, should we have need of it," he says. "I've taken the liberty of resupplying my field kit as well."

She nods, then says, "What I said back there goes for you as well, Quinn. I was glad to have you with me today."

"Thank you, my lord," he says, inclining his head. "As Pierce so astutely observed, I'm only doing my duty."

Eyes downcast, she says, quietly, "Not _only_ that, I hope."

It takes a few seconds for him to answer, and when he does, his voice wavers just a bit, belying his professional exterior. "Of course not."

Ruqi presses her lips together tightly, looking away from him. Given that she's been the one keeping him at arm's length, she supposes that wasn't especially fair of her. The vengeful part of her doesn't care if she's being fair to him or not. This would all be much simpler if she could be entirely the Ruqi who wants to forgive him, or entirely the Ruqi who doesn't.

After a moment of uncomfortable silence, Quinn turns to face her fully, setting his datapad aside. "Forgive me, my lord. I find myself uncertain how to proceed with things between us as they are now."

"Just be honest with me, Malavai. That's all I want." Unable to keep the bitterness from her voice, she adds, "That's all I've ever wanted from you."

Her words strike home, and Quinn pauses again, looking off to the side, before he continues. "I am acutely aware I have no right to ask or expect anything of you. The burden of regaining your trust rests squarely on my shoulders, as it should. But I hope my actions on Corellia thus far have shown my commitment to that goal."

"I suppose that depends on what sort of trust you mean," she replies. "You've show me I can still trust you in the field, or at least made a good start in doing so. But it's...more difficult to trust you with my heart again."

He nods slowly, then asks, "Difficult...but not impossible?"

Their eyes meet and hold, and in that look Ruqi feels every time they've consciously kept their distance from each other, every time they've almost touched out of habit and then pulled back, the longing she'd felt from him earlier in Axial Park and the keenness of her own matching it.

She reaches a hand toward him. "Just come _here_."

He closes the distance between them in a heartbeat, reaching out to pull her into his arms. Ruqi throws hers around him as well, burying her face in his shoulder as he presses his against her hair, and for several moments neither of them can do anything but cling to each other.

"I miss you," Ruqi whispers against his neck. "You're right next to me, and yet I miss you so much I can't _breathe_."

He makes a wounded noise and pulls back a bit, reaching up to take her face in his hands. "I'm such a fool. I never realized just how precious a thing our love was until I damaged it. Tell me I have not done so beyond repair, I beg you."

She kisses him, harsh and possessive, hands bunched in the fabric of his jacket as she pulls him even closer. They stumble backwards and collide with the medical bed, and Quinn grips her waist and lifts her onto it. Ruqi fists a hand in his hair and bites his lip, vicious rather than playful, and he moans into her mouth, offering no protest at her rough handling.

She pulls back all too soon, still holding him by the hair. "Not now," she growls. "There's too much to be done, and if I don't stop touching you soon I won't be able to."

With visible effort, Quinn brings his hands up to rest on her upper arms. "I understand. But, my lord--when this is over, let me come to your bed. Let me show you I am still yours."

The promise in his voice makes her shiver with want, and she nods, leaning in to kiss him once more before she slides onto her feet and moves away. There's a strategic value to this as well, she thinks. Indulging in passion now would fuel her strength, but so will having this as the reward that awaits her victory.

"It won't be long," she tells him. "One way or another, this will be over soon. I can feel it."

***

They're speeding toward Korriban as fast as the ship can take them, and as Ruqi stands on the bridge with her hands clasped behind her back, Quinn is more than a little afraid, both of and for her.

He knows she hasn't rested properly in days, but right now she barely seems at all tired. She's focused, alert, and even without her sensitivity to the Force he can feel her hatred for Baras roiling around her. She's brooding over it, letting it fuel her. That's good--up to a point. Her hate will make her stronger, but if she lets it drive her too hard, for too long, it will also make her into a thing like Draahg became.

As important as victory over Baras is, Quinn doesn't think he could accept that as the price for it. He clears his throat and speaks up.

"My lord, it will be more than ten hours before we reach Korriban. Perhaps you should sleep."

"I'll sleep when Baras is dead," she says flatly.

Quinn persists. "Then rest, at least. You should be in peak form when you face him."

"Are you suggesting I can't take him?" Ruqi asks archly, and Quinn can't tell if she's joking, testing him, or just spoiling for a fight anywhere she thinks she might get one.

"I'm suggesting that you will only get one chance to do so, my lord," he replies evenly. "And I know I don't have to remind you of what's at stake."

That last part is blatant manipulation, playing on her concern for him and the rest of her people, her need to protect them from Baras. If it gets her to sleep, Quinn doesn't care.

She's silent a moment, a familiar stubborn look on her face. Then, "You'll alert me as soon as we reach Korriban?"

"The moment we come out of lightspeed," he assures her. "All systems are running well and everyone knows their duty. Rest, my lord."

She relents, nodding, and brushes her fingers lightly against her arm as she moves past him. "Thank you, Quinn," she says softly.


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which there is a final confrontation, some catharsis and reconciliation, and--hopefully--a new beginning.

Even in her impatience to face Baras and have done with it, Ruqi understands that pageantry is important here. She's about to march into the Dark Council Chamber, make extraordinary claims, and challenge a Lord of the Council to a duel to the death; the other Councillors will be within their rights to attack her on sight unless she makes her case for why they shouldn't sufficiently compelling.

So she follows Vowrawn's lead, and she greets Lord Rathari graciously despite the fact that his presence makes little difference to her, and she lays her lingering doubts about the Emperor--how much he actually cares about what happens here, whether he'll prove to be any better a master than Baras--firmly aside before she faces the assembled Councillors and confidently declares that she knows his will.

Even so, she's not certain she's made her case strongly enough until Darth Marr speaks, armored head to toe even in this inner sanctum, seeming to tower over his fellows despite his seat being no higher or grander than theirs.

"Baras claims to be the Voice. This Lord claims to be the Wrath. I will not risk the Emperor's displeasure. The one who survives speaks truth."

Not exactly a ringing endorsement, but it gives her the only thing any true Sith needs--the chance to prove herself.

It also seems to drive home to Baras that he's not going to be able to talk his way out of fighting her. 

"Fine," he declares. "The master will grant the slave's last wish. The Emperor calls for your death, child. Attack me if you dare."

Ruqi stares at him unflinchingly, taking her lightsaber from her belt. Her blood is singing with rage, but there's a calmness, a kind of serenity that's not in spite of her fury, but part of it. She's felt its like before, but never this strong and certain. After everything Baras has done to her and hers, after everything she's done to get here, they've finally arrived at this moment, and all she has to do now is what she was born for.

"I was never, nor shall I ever be, your slave," she says, voice strong and clear, and ignites her blade.

***

Quinn knows she'd rather die than admit it, but he can see the toll the fight is taking on her. He can see the strain in her muscles, hear the harshness of her breath, even as he does what he can to aid her from his post by the door. She's flagging.

But so is Baras.

Their old master falters, casting about for aid he will not receive. Ruqi does not. While the rest of the Dark Council watches sedately, she lets out a scream of pure rage and leaps at her foe, hair flying out behind her, blade slicing through the air in a vicious downward stroke. Baras falls to his knees, his own saber dropping to the ground.

Quinn has seen Ruqi show mercy many times to many enemies, including himself. He hasn't always understood or agreed, though he respects her prerogative to spare those she's defeated.

There is no trace of mercy in her now. She stands over Baras, eyes blazing, mouth set in a vicious snarl, and at that moment Quinn has no trouble believing the Emperor has chosen her as the emissary of his Wrath.

His chest aches with how much he loves her.

"I wash the galaxy clean of you," she declares, just before she presses her saber hilt to Baras's chest and ignites the blade.

She stands firm and unwavering as the members of the Dark Council bow to her, acknowledging her as the Wrath, subject to no master save the Emperor himself. She strides from the chamber confidently, Quinn and Rathari flanking her.

As soon as they're out of sight of the seated Councilors, she gestures to Quinn with a low, urgent, "Captain," and he's at her side in a moment. His arm goes around her waist as she sags against him, and he can feel her trembling all over with the exertion of the fight.

Rathari takes a step toward them, looking concerned. "My lord, are you well?"

"I just need a moment," she says, and then gives him a fierce little grin. "That wasn't the easiest thing I've done, but it was one of the more satisfying."

"You were magnificent," Rathari tells her with pride. "I was wise indeed to pledge myself to you. May I be of any aid?"

Ruqi shakes her head, laying a hand on Quinn's shoulder. "I'm in good hands. But thank you for your support today, Lord Rathari. I will not forget it."

"My lord." Rathari bows and withdraws, leaving them alone in the hallway.

Quinn turns his attention to Ruqi, bringing his free hand to her cheek as she sways against him. "What do you need, my lord?"

"To sit for a moment, I think," she replies, tipping her face against his hand. "Unless you want to just carry me back to the ship."

There's a small antechamber conveniently close and blessedly empty; Quinn ushers her into it and guides her to a chair, kneeling at her side. He reaches for his medkit, mentally cataloging what she needs--a stim to ease the strain on her tired muscles, kolto gel for the burn on her arm and the angry-looking slash across her rib cage, and probably at least a full day's worth of sleep, given the unrelenting pace she's been keeping up lately. The first two, at least, he can provide right now.

"I understand it now as I never have before," she says as he works, half to herself, and at his questioning look she explains, "The Code. 'Through victory, my chains are broken.'"

Quinn nods. "You did it, my lord. We're free of him."

"Not just him," Ruqi leans forward, her eyes alight with savage joy. "Now no one short of the Emperor can question how I conduct my affairs, or order me to hurt or abandon anyone in my care." She reaches for him, pushing his hair back from his forehead and cradling his face between her hands. "Unless the Emperor himself decides one of my people is a threat, all of you--Jaesa, Vette, _you_ \--are as safe as I can make you."

Quinn stares at her for a moment, his hands stilling. It's not as though her protectiveness comes as a surprise, not after everything they've been through. But for her to have just struck down her greatest enemy, gained a level of power and freedom enjoyed by few in the Empire, and be thinking of her companions, rejoicing in her victory because of what it means for _them_ \--

"I had no idea how right I was when I called you a remarkable woman," he says, and then, softly, "I love you."

She lets out a delighted, almost girlish laugh, leaning forward to kiss him. Her mouth is fierce and hot and hungry, the kiss at once a celebration of victory, a reminder of her claim on him, and a promise of things to come.

"We should return to the ship," she says as she draws back. "Let the others know it's done."

She sways a little as she rises, and Quinn instantly reaches to help her, but she catches his hands and guides them back to his sides, standing firm under her own power. As they make their way back to the Fury, she occasionally leans on him when they're alone in lifts or shuttles, straightens again the instant they might be seen by anyone else, and Quinn follows her lead, supporting her when she'll let him.

***

They board the ship to find the others grouped in the lounge, eagerly awaiting their return. None of them expresses surprise that she was able to defeat Baras, but the air of relief in the room is palpable. As Ruqi describes the battle and answers their questions, Quinn falls back a step and just watches the group. This crew isn't something he ever would have expected to find himself a part of--two aliens, one of whom shows no enthusiasm for anything but violence and the other of whom shows _too_ much enthusiasm for everything, a former Jedi who still clings to much of that ideology even after years under a Sith's wing, and Pierce--but Ruqi values them all, has recognized the strength each of them has to offer and bound them to her with love and loyalty rather than fear and domination.

"So...what happens now?" Vette asks eventually. 

Ruqi shrugs. "The Hand will contact us when they have a new assignment for me, I presume. Until that happens, I suppose I can do as I like. We've all earned some downtime, and I need to speak to my family, fill them in on everything…" 

Her eyes are bright, but Quinn can see her shoulders starting to droop, "But right now, my lord, you should rest, and we should all let you." 

She greets his concern with a fond smile. "Very well. We'll stay docked here for the time being, and I'll visit my parents at the Academy tomorrow. That's all for now, everyone."

The rest of the crew disperses except for Quinn. Ruqi stands and moves toward toward her quarters, then glances back at him when he stands unmoving. For a moment she seems perplexed, and then a wry, slightly sad look crosses her face. 

"...Oh," she says quietly. "I _did_ say explicit invitation, didn't I." 

"Very clearly, my lord," Quinn replies softly. 

She comes toward him, takes his hand, and steps backward as she asks, "Would you join me in my quarters, Malavai?"

Quinn brings her hand to his mouth, letting her draw him through the door. "As you wish," he murmurs.

The door closes behind them and she's on him at once, grabbing the front of his jacket to tug him close and pushing her other hand into his hair as her lips meet his. For a moment Quinn clutches at her, leaning into the kiss like he needs her to survive--and in that moment, it truly feels like he does. Then he pulls himself back, holding her by the upper arms and leaning his forehead against hers. 

"My lord, you know how much I want--but you should sleep first. You need time to recover--"

"I need _you_ ," she says firmly, loosening her hold on his jacket to run her hand down the front of his uniform and below his belt. He feels himself react instantly, stiffening against her palm, and when she stretches up to tease at a kiss and then leans back he follows helplessly, chasing her mouth.

Her hands are everywhere as she backs them toward the bed, unclasping pieces of her armor to let them fall carelessly, tugging at his uniform frantically enough to rip fabric, running her hands over every inch of skin revealed with a clear sense of possessiveness. As with the kiss on Corellia, there's a harsh, demanding edge to her, an undercurrent of anger in her passion. Perhaps that should give him pause, but his own desire is close to drowning out everything else. The one thought that makes it through the haze is that perhaps they need this, for Ruqi to claim him as hers anew and let go of her anger in the process, before they can move on.

She gets him down to his briefs and pushes him to sit on the edge of the bed, kicking off her boots and unfastening her robes as she stands before him. Quinn reaches for her as the fabric pools around her feet and she slides onto his lap, straddling him. Her hands run up into his hair and tighten, yanking his head up for a kiss, and Quinn closes his eyes and opens his mouth to her, reveling in the pain along with the sensation of her lips on his. She moves in his lap, pressing hard against him, and when she grinds against his cock he's sure for a moment that he's going to come then and there.

Ruqi breaks the kiss and pulls back to look at him, breathing hard. Her hands loosen, one staying in his hair, the other trailing down to touch his face and rest against the side of his neck.

"Still mine?" she asks, and he answers without hesitation.

"Always." He splays one hand on the small of her back, drawing a slight gasp from her when his fingers brush the ridges there, and runs the other up the length of her spine. "I was always yours, and I always will be. I lost sight of that for a while, and I'm so sorry."

Her hand on his neck shifts, thumb pressing against his windpipe just enough for him to feel the pressure. "Don't lose sight of it again," she says, her eyes gentle, but a trace of steel in her voice.

Quinn tilts his head back further, baring his throat to her. "Don't let me," he whispers.

She kisses him hard, still holding him by the neck. Her other hand slips down to his shoulder, and her nails rake across his chest, not hard enough to break skin, but still leaving trails of fire in their wake. He moans and feels her grin before her mouth leaves his to kiss and bite her way down the column of his throat. Quinn presses her closer to him and tilts his head to give her better access, wanting her to mark him as hers once more almost as badly as he wants to be inside her again.

He gasps as she presses her tongue to a spot she just bit, and moves his hand on her lower back, fingers trailing up and down over her ridges. Ruqi arches her back with a cry, grinding against him again.

"I need you," she breathes against his neck, hands trailing over his arms and shoulders. "Malavai--"

Quinn reaches up to unclasp her bra, eases the straps from her shoulders. "You have me, my lord."

She hums, mouthing along the curve of his jaw. "You don't have to keep calling me that." 

Quinn lifts her off his lap and flips them, leaning over her as she lands on her back on the bed. He brings one hand to her face, tracing the shape of her brow, her cheekbones, the small bone spurs on her chin. "Ruqi," he says softly, using her name for the first time since she snapped at him not to.

She smiles, hands settling on his hips and pushing his briefs down. "Better."

" _Mielis_ ," he says experimentally, and her smile widens, her eyes shining. Quinn bends to kiss her, one hand moving over the plane of her stomach and under the hem of her underwear, sliding the fabric down.

He slides two fingers into her as he positions himself between her legs, rewarded with a sharp moan and her hips lifting off the bed. He strokes her for a few moments before pulling his fingers back, bringing the head of his cock to her entrance, and burying himself in her in a single fluid thrust.

Ruqi cries out, wrapping her arms and legs around him. Quinn slides one arm beneath her to hold her against him, his other hand coming up to stroke her hair and the side of her face. Neither of them moves for a moment, until Ruqi squeezes him with her legs and he starts thrusting. He lets out a groan at the feeling of her surrounding him, burying his face in the curve of her neck as he moves inside her. She brings a hand to the back of his head, fingers tangling in his hair again, and lifts her hips to meet every thrust. 

" _Mielis_ ," she says in his ear, voice hitching up at the end. "I love you, I love you so much, don't stop--" She keeps up a stream of endearments and encouragement until her words devolve into a series of increasingly frantic moans.

"My dearest," Quinn breathes against her neck, then lets out a ragged cry as he loses the last vestiges of control, his movements becoming jerky, uncoordinated. 

They come within a heartbeat of each other, Ruqi gripping him tight as she trembles violently, Quinn shouting her name as he spills inside her with one final thrust. They stay close for long moments in the aftermath, both panting for breath and holding onto each other for dear life.

Finally, Ruqi loosens her hold on him, and Quinn eases away, kissing her softly as he shifts to lie beside her. She cups his face with one hand, still breathing heavily.

"I don't know if that quite makes up for our time apart, but it's a good start."

Quinn catches her hand in his, turns his head to kiss the inside of her wrist. "I shall have to keep at it until you're fully satisfied, then."

She stretches slowly, lifting her arms above her head. "My thoughts exactly."

He moves up on the bed, sitting up against the pillows, and regards her solemnly. "Ruqi--"

She rolls onto her knees, sitting on her heels and looking back at him. "Yes?"

"I can't imagine that our making love again means that what happened--what I did--is forgotten," he says. Ruqi looks away from him, a shadow of pain crossing her face, and Quinn instantly regrets bringing it up. He lays his hand over hers where it rests on the bed between them and forges on. "I don't mean to hurt you with the reminder, but I have to ask--are we going to be all right?"

Ruqi takes a moment before she answers, still not looking at him. "I want us to be," she says with quiet determination. "I want us to be stronger than him and what he tried to do to us, and I believe we are. But..." She does look at him then, and there are tears in her eyes, a sight that strikes him like a blow. "You hurt me more deeply than anyone ever has, Malavai. I can't pretend I don't still feel it keenly."

Quinn doesn't shrink from her gaze, doesn't look away as the cowardly part of him wants to. He lifts his hand to her face, strokes her cheek with the backs of his fingers.

"I'm so sorry," he tells her. "I can't--there aren't words for how deeply I regret it, how much I wish I could take it back."

Ruqi tips her hand against his cheek. "I know. But that doesn't undo the hurt." She closes her eyes, one tear spilling over, then another. "I love you," she whispers after a moment.

Quinn nods, tears welling up in his own eyes. "I know, and I love you. And...that doesn't undo the hurt either, does it?"

She shakes her head, then reaches up and curls her hand around his wrist, holding tight. He leans forward and kisses her tears away, brushes his lips across hers, tilts his head up to kiss her forehead.

"So what do we do?" he asks after a moment, steeling himself for whatever answer she gives.

Ruqi draws in a deep breath and lets it out slowly. She brings his hand down to her chest, over her heart, clasping it in both of hers as she lifts her eyes to his.

"We give it time, I think. We accept that it's going to hurt, perhaps for a long time, and we try to be patient." She smiles, a few more tears falling as she does so. "We love each other. I don't know what else there is to do."

Quinn reaches out and gathers her into his arms, hand sliding up to cradle the side of her face as their mouths meet in a deep, slow kiss. "There's no charge I'd take on more willingly," he murmurs against her lips.

She kisses him again, then leans her head on his shoulder, a tired sigh escaping her.

Quinn kisses her hair, cupping the back of her neck. "You really do need to sleep, my darling."

"I know." She lets him ease her down onto the bed and skims her fingers along the bare skin of his arm. "Stay? I've missed sleeping in your arms."

"Of course." He settles down beside her and draws the covers up around them, eagerly wrapping her in his arms as she curls into him.


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With Baras out of the way, Ruqi gets down to the business of being the Emperor's Wrath, and faces a new challenge. Plus, the other half of the reunion porn I couldn't wrangle into shape for the last chapter.

Ruqi stirs just enough to roll onto her side, then groans as her muscles protest even that much movement. She hasn't been this sore since the last time she almost got blown up.

Quinn's arm, draped loosely around her waist, tightens a bit, and he murmurs "All right?" in a low, sleep-rough voice.

"I'll be just fine as long as no one expects me to get out of bed or do anything for at least a week," Ruqi mutters, burying her face in a pillow.

Quinn makes a sympathetic noise and kisses her shoulder. "I can go get you something for the pain?"

She curls a hand lightly around his wrist. "You're not getting out of bed, either."

He hums thoughtfully and then slips away from her, rising to his knees. "As you wish," he says, easing her onto her back. "But perhaps there's something I can do for you without getting out of bed?"

She lets out another little groan, reaching up to touch his cheek. "I appreciate the thought, Malavai, but I really don't think I can do much more than lie here at the moment."

Even as she says that, she lets her legs fall open when Quinn puts his hands on her knees, giving him space to lie between them. He leans down to kiss her, bracing himself above her with his hands. "Then just let me take care of you, my love."

He brushes his lips against hers again and then moves down, gently kissing the skin between and around the edges of the gold bands on her neck. Ruqi slides one hand loosely into his hair, the contented sigh she lets out as he kisses his way across her collarbone turning into a sharp gasp when his mouth finds the ridges on her chest, tracing the shape of each with his tongue. 

Quinn shifts his weight onto one elbow and brings his other hand up to touch her breast, fingers skimming along the curve of it and teasing her nipple to a stiff peak. He lowers his mouth to her other breast, making her moan softly when his teeth graze the tender skin. He lingers there a long time, until her chest is flushed a deeper red and her breath is coming fast and shallow.

The next place he lingers is at the slash across her ribs, the souvenir of her battle with Baras. Quinn ghosts his fingertips over it, his expression turning analytical for a moment.

"I should put more kolto on this," he says thoughtfully. "It's healing up well, though."

Ruqi smiles, pushing her fingers through his hair. "Thanks to your attentions."

Quinn bends his head to press tiny kisses to the skin around the wound, outlining the shape of it, making her gasp and tighten her fingers in his hair. Then he keeps moving down, trailing kisses and teasing nips down to her navel.

He shifts onto his knees so he can use both hands, pressing her legs farther apart. He looks up at her for a moment, his eyes full of love and low, smoldering heat, then lowers his head to the apex of her thighs.

Ruqi moans at the first brush of his tongue, teasingly light, darting away when she tries to press against it. She lifts her hips off the bed, ignoring a stab of pain from her muscles, only to find his hand moving up to splay across her belly, pressing her down again.

"Malavai--"

"Shh," he whispers, licking her clit and then turning his head to nuzzle at her inner thigh."Let me take care of you," he goes on, words little more than vibrations against her skin. "Let me do this for you."

Ruqi lets her head fall back, biting her lip as he slides two fingers into her. His tongue is at her clit again, lapping softly, his other hand still gently but firmly holding her down.

It feels both unbelievably good and incredibly maddening, what he's doing to her. Normally all it takes is a single tilt of her hips or for her to say his name in that particular tone to get him to give into her demands for harder, faster, _more_. This time, he skillfully evades every attempt at escalation, using his intimate knowledge of her body to make sure his touch is just enough to keep her on the edge. Even when she comes, it isn't hard or sudden--it's like a gentle wave, the kind that barely crests as it rolls along the shore, washing over her and suffusing her entire body with pleasure. 

He stays between her legs, resting his head on her stomach and occasionally pressing soft kisses to her skin, while she lies loose-limbed and sated, playing with his hair.

Finally, she pushes herself up on her elbows and turns her head to find the bedside chrono. Like all the others on the ship, it has a triple display, showing standard shipboard time, Kaas City time, and local time at the Korriban Academy. According to the last, it was afternoon when they retired here yesterday, and it's mid-morning now.

She sighs, flopping down on the bed again. "I need to go see my parents," she says. 

Quinn moves up to lie beside her, reaching to brush a wayward strand of hair back from her face. "Do you want me to come with you?"

Ruqi considers for a moment, then shakes her head. "You should meet them, but when you do I want it to be about that, not about Baras or my being the Wrath." She sits up, wincing, and then gives him a wry smile. "If your earlier offer of something for the pain is still open, however…"

After a quick shower, Quinn makes good on his mention of putting more kolto gel on her wounds and gives her an injection that brings her soreness to a manageable level at the cost of making her head swim. Ruqi kisses him on the cheek when he's done, dresses and sweeps her hair up, and departs for the surface with Jaesa at her side.

The Korriban Academy is a massive, sprawling complex, and the section of it given over to living quarters for Overseers and their families is a good distance from the central structure containing the Dark Council Chamber. From the looks and occasional murmurs as she makes her way to her family's unit, Ruqi assumes at least some talk of what happened yesterday has already spread, supposed sanctity of the Council Chamber or no.

Zrisha opens the door, grinning as Ruqi and Jaesa step inside and yelling "She's here!" over her shoulder.

Their mother's voice comes from the next room. "Zrisha, really, is a _modicum_ of decorum too much to ask for?" 

Zrisha rolls her eyes. "The Emperor's Wrath has graced us with her presence," she declares in an affected tone, just before Ruqi grabs her in a one-armed hug, ruffling her short hair.

"I take it you've heard, then," she says as Amasis comes into the foyer.

"I have a source in the Imperial Guard, and certain Councillors aren't being as discreet as they could, although of course I won't name names," Amasis says. She takes Ruqi's face in her hands, looking her over proudly. "Not that anyone can blame them for talking in this case. Not after what you've done."

Ruqi and Jaesa get herded into the parlor, where they find Ruqi's father Lairas and a breakfast spread that instantly reminds Ruqi she hasn't eaten since before facing Baras, and moreover hasn't eaten anything other than ration bars in days. Other than the usual two servants, there's no one else around, with Nivony offworld and Tashom in the Academy dorms. Ruqi remembers her own days there, grabbing tasteless rations from the commissary and never once asking or expecting to be allowed home for meals--all part of the acolyte experience, and while some Overseers might take a more lax attitude with their children, Amasis Keres would sooner defect to the Republic.

In between shoving food in her mouth and draining several cups of freshly brewed caf, Ruqi gives them a condensed and carefully edited version of events from her first contact with the Hand on.

"You actually spoke to the Voice of the Emperor?" her father asks when she's done. "That's extraordinary. I want to hear every detail."

"I want to hear more about you fighting Baras," Zrisha chimes in. 

"Have you given any thought to what you're going to do now, besides awaiting further assignments from the Hand?" her mother asks.

Ruqi shrugs, reaching for another piece of toast. "I don't see why I can't simply do what I've been doing, without Baras pulling my leash. Keep traveling with my crew and see how we can best serve the Empire."

Her mother's mouth thins. "So you mean to go on taking orders from Sith and Imperials you should now be above, while keeping company with aliens and Force-blind humans--and you, of course, Jaesa," Amasis adds with a nod at Jaesa, who nods back politely, sips her caf, and maintains a diplomatic silence. "Not very ambitious of you, I must say."

Ruqi takes a moment to swallow several possible responses, including one about just how thoroughly she was enjoying a Force-blind human's company before she came here. What she does say is, "Mother, there's not much point to my being ambitious now, unless you want me to take out the rest of the Dark Council or challenge the Emperor himself."

Lairas chuckles softly; Amasis closes her eyes and makes a pained noise, as if Ruqi had just said something vulgar. "Your future may be settled, but what about your siblings?"

"I had a thought about that, actually," Ruqi says. "Tash should be finishing at the Academy soon, yes?"

Her father nods. "If all goes well, he should face his final trials within a few months."

"Well, tell him he doesn't have to worry about who he'll be apprenticed to when he does," Ruqi says, adding with a glance at her current apprentice, "There's not much more I can teach Jaesa, though she'll have a place at my side as long as she wants one."

"It will be my honor to watch you share your wisdom with a new apprentice, my lord," Jaesa says with a little smile.

"What about me?" Zrisha demands, and Ruqi reaches across the table and tweaks her earlobe.

"You go put in your time at the Academy and then we'll talk. And Von…Von gets to tell people at parties she's the Wrath's sister, that ought to please her."

Her mother snorts. "It certainly will."

By the time Ruqi and Jaesa manage to extract themselves, the adrenals Quinn gave her are wearing off, and she's more than ready to just head back to the ship and collapse for a while. In the shuttle on their way back, she checks her messages just to make sure there's nothing urgent demanding her attention.

"What is it?" Jaesa asks when she makes a strangled noise a moment later.

"I have...seven messages requesting a meeting at my earliest convenience," Ruqi says. "Four of them from people I've never heard of."

Jaesa's eyebrows go up. "I didn't realize becoming the Wrath would involve so much celebrity."

"It hasn't traditionally, I don't think," Ruqi tells her. "To the best of my knowledge, there's only been one other, and he kept to himself. I suppose people are seeing the emergence of a new Wrath as an opportunity."

"We should meet with them," Jaesa says. "Perhaps we'll find more like-minded Sith to ally with."

It's something that's been pushed to the back burner while dealing with Baras, their desire to unite more Sith who think and act as Ruqi does. Ruqi knows there are plenty of them, but in her experience they've been too content to keep to themselves and tend to their own concerns while Sith like Baras drive and influence the Empire. Jaesa is right--now that Ruqi's free of her old master and has a position of power and influence to work from, it may be time to change that.

"We will." She says with a firm nod. "But not today."

They return to the ship, and Ruqi finds Quinn on the bridge. Coming up behind him, she puts her hands on his waist and leans against his back, perching her chin on his shoulder.

"My lord," he says, voice warm. "Is there something you need?"

"Besides a fresh dose of painkillers and a nap?" Ruqi asks, then says, "Set course for Dromund Kaas. There's nothing else I need to see to on Korriban right now; let's see what's waiting for us at home."

***

The moment they come out of hyperspace above Dromund Kaas, it's clear _something_ has happened. What looks the bulk of the Imperial fleet is massed around the planet, many ships showing clear signs of recent battle. Before they've even had time to take in the sight in front of them, they're hailed by a Grand Moff demanding up-to-date clearance codes in a tone that makes Ruqi suspect any sort of delay or flippancy will get them fired on. She lets Quinn handle the Moff, hoping his calm professionalism will set the woman at ease, and turns her attention to figuring out what's happened.

"...The Republic fleet attacked Dromund Kaas?"

Vette blinks. "Wow, that's, uh...gutsy of them?"

Pierce gives a slow whistle. "I'm almost impressed. Didn't think they had it in 'em."

"But this doesn't make any _sense_ ," Ruqi says, flicking through reports on her datapad. "They can't have thought they were going to get very far. It looks like their losses far outweighed ours, and the assault was led by Satele Shan's flagship--say what you will about the Jedi Grandmaster, she's not an idiot."

"I may be able to shed some light on that, my lord," Quinn calls from his post, having apparently convinced the anxious Moff not to shoot them down. "There's chatter on several Imperial channels about a single Republic ship landing near Kaas City. The Outreach Bureau is fervently denying that any enemy ships made it past our defenses, but--"

"--but the fleet action would make a lot more sense if it was a distraction for this one ship and whatever its mission was," Ruqi finishes. "See what else you can find out, Quinn." 

Just then, another hail comes through, and Servant One appears on the bridge's holoterminal. "Wrath. We must speak."

"Yes, go ahead," Ruqi says distractedly, and he frowns. 

"What we have to say is for you alone. And is of the utmost importance."

"Very well," Ruqi replies. "Captain, transfer the call to the secure line in my quarters." 

In her quarters, with the door shut and the call picked up on her private holo, she asks, "What's going on? Does your calling me have something to do with the Republic fleet's attack?"

"It was everything to do with it," Servant One informs her gravely. "On Voss, you freed the Emperor to find a new vessel to serve as his Voice. He did so, and had taken up residence in the Dark Temple on Dromund Kaas."

Ruqi's eyebrows go up. "Are you telling me the Republic assault was a direct attack on the Emperor?"

"The fleet was but a distraction," he says. "The true assault came from one Jedi Knight, whose threat we did not see until it was too late. We presume her aim was to destroy the Emperor entirely--that, she could not do, but she did succeed in striking down the Voice."

Ruqi stares at him, wondering for a moment if she heard correctly. "...One Jedi," she echoes flatly.

"This is no ordinary Jedi," Servant One says. "She seems to possess uncommon ability to resist the Emperor's power. And there is more, Wrath--she was led to the Temple by your predecessor."

At that, Ruqi has to sit down, bracing her elbows on her knees as she goes on staring at the holo image in front of her. "Lord Scourge? You never did give me a good answer about why a new Wrath was needed--this is it, then? Because the old one turned traitor to--to help a Jedi try and kill the Emperor? _Why_ , for kriff's sake?"

Servant One shakes his head. "We can only speculate as to Lord Scourge's reasons. What matters most now is that the Emperor is more vulnerable than he has been in centuries. He will need time to regain his full strength, and we must not let his weakened state become widely known."

_If he is no longer strong enough to lead us, why shouldn't that become known?_ Ruqi thinks, and then thinks of what that would mean for the Empire, what that would leave them with. Thinks about what she's seen of the Dark Council as it stands now, and how many Imperials she's met on the front lines of the war who still speak the Emperor's name with reverence, as if they truly believe he's watching over and protecting them all.

"What would you have me do?" she asks.

"What you have been doing," he tells her. "Make your presence felt in the Empire, and stand against the Emperor's enemies, both here and in the Republic. There will be those who doubt the Emperor's survival and begin to lose faith in him, if they have not done so already. You must stand as a living testament to his power, and be ready if another usurper like Baras arises."

Ruqi nods, feeling the weight of her role on her shoulders again. Whatever questions she has, whatever goals of her own she'd like to pursue, her first duty is still to the Empire. "Very well."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SO. As you can see, we have reached the portion of the proceedings where I start smushing the Sith Warrior and Jedi Knight storylines together, tweaking canon as necessary to make them fit. Expect more of that, and possibly an appearance by a certain Mirialan Jedi in the company of a certain asshole Sith, to come.
> 
> Also, as you can tell from the chapter, I favor the idea that while Scourge as the Wrath was likely not a very public figure in the Empire, the new Wrath does become one. There are various reasons I favor that view, including what's discussed here along with the fact that multiple people the SW meets post-Chapter Three recognizes them as the Wrath on sight. Also, I think it's fun.


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which some turning points are reached that are less dramatic than the last series of turning points that were reached, but no less important.

Ruqi doesn't share the contents of her conversation with the Hand. She doesn't dissemble, just tells her crew frankly that if the time comes when she can discuss it with them, she will, and that in the meantime their mission is unchanged.

Whatever it is she's not telling them, Quinn can tell having to keep it secret chafes at her, and that troubles him. But he takes her at her word that it's not something the rest of them need to know, and that she'll share it someday if she can. He will not make the mistake of doubting her again.

The attack on Dromund Kaas is played off by propagandists as the foolish act of a desperate Republic. Those who have questions are, for the most part, smart enough to voice them only in trusted and like-minded circles. It helps that attention is pulled away from the Republic's attack just weeks later, when Darth Thanaton declares and subsequently loses a Kaggath against a young Sith lord--one Ruqi knows well, as it happens, the two having met in their Academy days and undertaken several missions together since. Vondalian Metis, a Mirialan born into slavery, now sits on the Dark Council as Darth Occlus, her rise to power heralded by some as the dawn of a new era and by others as the death-knell of centuries of Imperial tradition.

Tashom joins them two months after Ruqi's victory over Baras, slipping quietly into their little company as her new apprentice. He shares his sister's honor and courage, but not her fury or the bloodthirsty streak that runs deep in her, tempered though it is by mercy and restraint. Soft-spoken and gentle by nature, Tash is perhaps the only Sith Quinn has ever known who might have been better suited to being a Jedi. Watching the young man spar with Ruqi in the cargo hold or meditate with Jaesa in the crew quarters, Quinn wonders what would have become of him had he not had this ship to come to, this crew to join and this master to serve.

The Republic reclaims Corellia as Quinn expected, largely through the joint efforts of Havoc Squad and a task force led by the Jedi known as the Barsen'thor. The war goes on, one side wresting control of some patch of the galaxy only for the other to take it back. With her new independence as the Wrath, Ruqi is able to pick her battles, to decide for herself when and where her crew are most effectively deployed.

She and Quinn don't speak any further about the incident, as he's come to think of it. He hopes that means there's nothing more that need be said about it, that Ruqi is taking the time she needs for her pain to heal, and that she'll let him know if she needs more from him.

He finds himself, now and then, trying to think of something he could say or do to help her heal faster, and it troubles him that he can't--he did this, shouldn't he be able to fix it? But he can think of nothing, or rather, no one thing. There's no singular word or deed to fix this, and the best he can do is what he's already doing; being there for her, staying receptive to her needs, showing his love and devotion in any way he can.

He hopes--prays--that will be enough, because it's all he can do.

***

The day Ruqi looks at him and doesn't feel any pain is the day she knows she's going to marry him.

Before the incident, she would think about marriage occasionally, idle _someday_ musings about what their future might hold. Afterward, when she was still hurting and struggling to forgive him, those thoughts had stopped entirely. And now there's no wondering, just a quiet certainty that when she looks at him, she's looking at her husband.

The betrayal isn't forgotten--it will never be forgotten, it's woven into the fabric of what they are now--but the ache that at one time seemed like it might become a constant has dulled and faded, and she's ready to move on. For both of them to move on, together. 

She waits until the next time they get a night to themselves on Dromund Kaas. They've been planetside for two weeks, but one obligation after another has been eating away at their time. They'll be gone again in a few days, Grand Moff Regus having requested Ruqi's help with the Empire's venture on Ilum, but she's been insistent on staking out some time for her and Quinn before they leave.

It's a quiet evening, servants given the night off and siblings warned away so they have the Kaas City apartment to themselves. They make dinner--ever since that first breakfast they shared here, any attempt by either of them to cook for the other seems to end up as a collaborative affair, each of them incapable of staying out of the kitchen to let the other work. They take a bottle of wine into the living room after they've cleaned up, settling onto the loveseat together, and she looks at him and reaches for his hand.

"Malavai?" she begins. 

Quinn turns to face her, covering her hand with both of his. "Darling?"

"I think we should get married," Ruqi says, as simply as if she were suggesting they go out for breakfast tomorrow. 

Quinn's eyes widen a fraction, and then he lets out a soft laugh, squeezing her hand. "I've been trying for weeks to find the right words to propose to you," he tells her. "I should have known you'd beat me to the point."

She smiles. "Is that a yes, then?"

"Yes," he says at once, leaning in to kiss her. "Yes," he says again, softer, when he draws back. "With all my heart."

Beaming with happiness, Ruqi lets go of his hand to twine her arms around his neck and kiss him again. "I have to admit, now I'm sorry I didn't get to hear your proposal." 

Quinn brings one hand to her face, the backs of his fingers skimming across her cheek. "Well, I was still working out the finer points," he says. "But it's likely I would have told you that before we met, I never thought I could be as happy with anyone as I am with you." He tilts his head to kiss her cheek, voice a low murmur as he goes on. "That after all we've been through, the good and the bad, I know there's nothing we can't achieve together." A quick kiss to the shell of her ear, and then he pulls back to meet her eyes, his own so full of love it takes her breath away. "That I love you, and I'd count myself the luckiest man in the galaxy if you would be my wife." 

Ruqi kisses him once more, then leans her forehead against his. "If I hadn't already made up my mind to marry you, that would have done the trick."

Quinn laughs again, tugging her into his arms and kissing her hair. Ruqi nestles against him contentedly, sliding her arms around his waist.

"How much do you know about Sith wedding traditions?" she asks after a moment.

"Enough to know there's probably more than just a quiet civil ceremony in our future," Quinn says dryly, but with a smile in his voice. He runs a hand up and down her back slowly. "But I'm open to whatever you want, as long as it ends with me as your husband and you as my wife."

Ruqi hums thoughtfully. "I can keep my family from going off the deep end and making too much fuss. Probably." She lifts her head to look at him, smiling. "But I do think I'd like a _bit_ of fuss. Being a bride is something I only intend to experience once, after all."

Quinn lights up all over again at those words. "We have some planning ahead of us, then."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HI GUYS I'M NOT DEAD. I am sorry if I made you worry this was abandoned, but considering the past year has been...stressful, let's say, I am choosing to proud of myself for making it under the wire of a full year going by between chapters.
> 
> I am also sorry if you got excited to see this story update only to have this be a) the last chapter and b) such a short one, BUT. My original plan was to keep this going indefinitely and just add to it whenever I had something new to write about Ruqi and Quinn in the expansions. My second plan was to wrap this story up with their wedding, which falls between Ilum and Makeb. But it make take a while yet to get all my ducks in a row for everything that needs to happen on Ilum, and the proposal strikes me as a nice stopping point in and of itself, so...here we are.
> 
> I absolutely have plans to write more about Ruqi and Quinn, though my focus may shift to other OCs for a while. For the time being, anything focusing on them will probably be posted as a ficlet in A Long Time Ago. I am determined that there WILL be wedding fic someday, either as part of a larger work or as a standalone.
> 
> Thank you all so much for coming on this journey with me! It has never stopped being gratifying and delightful that a story dealing with my own OCs and headcanon connected with so many people, and I love and appreciate all of you. <3


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